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"God is
opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the
humble."
-- James 4:6
The
Discipline of
Secrecy
Religious living often deteriorates into false
piety. Our best intentions to read Scripture, serve well, give generously, and pray faithfully
can quickly degenerate into exercises of self-promotion and
self-glorification.
Jesus,
however, warns us that anything we do to draw
attention to ourselves -- whatever we do to be
noticed by others (Matthew 6:1) -- negates any reward
from our Father in heaven. But if we act quietly
and non-publicly "Your Father, who sees what is
done in secret, will reward you." (Matthew 6:4)
As we ponder spiritual disciplines,
have we considered the discipline of secrecy?
When Jon Bon Jovi appeared on Oprah Winfrey's
popular daytime television program in the first week
of 2006, he presented a check for $1
million towards Hurricane Relief. That generous act thrilled the
audience. But, at the same time, Bon Jovi was promoting
his musical albums. Did the check come from his
marketing budget or from his heart? The public
generosity made it very hard to
tell.
We must
delineate between sin-empowering secrecy and this spiritual discipline
of secrecy.
Sin thrives on secrecy. When
NBC Dateline set a sting for online sexual predators and
then filmed men coming to the home of an underage
girl, it became very apparent that those men,
for the most part, lived horrifying double-lives.
Rabbis, pastors, lawyers, doctors, tradesmen, and others all fell into the
net. It cost many of them their marriages and did
irreparable harm to their families. That kind of secrecy
steals, kills, and destroys everything that the Father
intends for us. (John
10:10)
On the other hand,
Jesus advocates secrecy over acts that lead us not into
shame but potentially into pride. His teaching,
however, has few advocates in our self-honoring
society.
Our culture teaches us to build a resume, and
we do the same with our
faith.We
drop hints about our spiritual efforts. We mention our
sacrificial service and leadership honors. We assist the
poor and find ways to let others know about it.
We
tell stories of our spiritual achievements, victories
and good deeds. But a fine line exists between sharing
our life stories to encourage others and sharing the
stories to enhance our own
reputation.
The discipline of secrecy prohibits the building of
any spiritual resume. It restrains us when
we want to compare ourselves with the next person. It restricts
our attempts to advance our own standing in
the eyes of the
world.
Any of us who would pray "Your Kingdom come"
must consider this discipline with utmost seriousness. The
coming of His Kingdom means the lessening of our
kingdom, and godly secrecy guides us in that
direction.
The
discipline of secrecy may be one of the least practiced
spiritual disciplines of our day - yet one of the most
rewarding!
In
HOPE
-
David |
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