You Just Can’t Keep a Secret

Sometimes I read a passage of the Bible that I’ve read a hundred times before, and a verse will jump out at me, grab me by the throat, punch me in the gut, make me sweat in fear and then terrorize me for weeks! (God tends to be rather dramatic with me; it must be the only way He can get my attention!)

I recently had such an encounter with God’s word. I was preparing for one of our summer Equipping Classes when Luke 12:2-3 mercilessly assaulted me. Jesus is speaking to His disciples and says,

“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.”

I don’t know about you, but when I really stop and consider Jesus’ words here, it scares the heck out of me! I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job learning my lesson that gossip is bad (Proverbs 16:28, 2 Corinthians 12:20). I don’t share “secrets” with people I think might spread the choice little morsels along to someone else. We’ve all experienced the painful consequences of gossip, and I genuinely (at least most of the time) don’t want my careless words to get around and harm someone else.

But that’s really not what Jesus is talking about in Luke 12. He seems to be saying that even if you have a confidante, someone you can really trust not to spread a story, you still need to realize that someday what you said is going to be brought out into the open. That suggests that I’m going to be held responsible for the stuff I tell my wife or my best friend in confidence. Even if I’m just “venting” and want to rag on what so-and-so said or did, I need to be careful; what I say in my frustration or in my self-righteous attitude is going to be revealed publicly. I won’t be able to keep what I said a secret forever! People are going to hear what I said in secret about them. Awkward!

The bigger issue for me in all of this is attitude. My attitude affects others, whether I share a nasty little secret with a tattle-tale or with a closed-mouth confidante, I have still infected that person with a negative attitude. Even if it doesn’t spread around to the general population, I have made pursuing a godly life difficult for a brother or sister in Christ by sharing a petty complaint that I could have just surrendered to Jesus in my personal prayer life. And I’ve also discovered that my own negative attitude is reinforced when I share my opinions with another person. If I moan and groan to someone else about how stupid or careless or selfish this other person is, I just give more fuel for the fire and I find myself getting more angry or judgmental.

So for the last couple of weeks, when I’m tempted to say something bad about someone in secret, I’m having to think twice. I admit that sometimes I’ve given in and not used the filter ability God has given me. But a couple of times, I actually stopped myself from saying something that was simply a selfish complaint, something that wasn’t going to help anybody by being said, and just talked to Jesus about it. You know, it’s funny, when you go to the Savior, the One who has had compassion on my sorry soul, I find it hard to complain for too long! Instead, I usually find myself realizing that it wasn’t such a big deal after all and I can actually choose to let it go. I know that there are times when we all need to confide our frustrations and struggles with someone close to us, but I want to be guard myself from whispering careless “secrets” that someday are going to be announced on a loudspeaker for all to hear.

posted by:
Mark Shetler
Pastor of Student Ministries & Missions

God and Milkshakes

Whenever our two year old granddaughter, Simone, is visiting and Papa fires up the blender, she runs from wherever she is in the house straight to the kitchen as fast as her little legs can carry her. She goes immediately to the cabinet, selects a plastic kid’s cup and hands it up to Papa because she knows when she hears the blender, of Papa’s deliciously, famous milkshakes is at hand and she wants in on it.

I’m like that with God. When I hear Him doing something wonderful, I want to be the first in line. When I hear testimonies of His goodness I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. When I hear of a victory for the Kingdom, I want to line up and cheer. I’ve always been partial to Revelation 3:20 which says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Can you imagine hearing a knock at your door and opening it up and there stands Jesus and He says, “Let’s eat!”? I’d probably make Him a milkshake.

But what about the times when God’s voice is nowhere to be heard? In those times I lament with the Psalmist David who asked, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? Ho long will you hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1). Psalm 10 begins with, “Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?”

I get uneasy when God is silent. I start questioning my faith, my actions, and my beliefs. Did I do something to offend God? Has He removed His favor from me? Has my heart hardened against Him? Did I fail to do something He asked of me? Am I too weak or unworthy to hear Him? Then, after I let Satan have a field day with my thought life, I remember the Psalmist’s words, “But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand.” And I know, help is on the way.

So what is going on when all the ingredients are in the blender, but it’s not ready for a taste? Well, I believe that’s when GOD IS AT WORK! He has a goal for us, but we may need to suffer a bit before it can be accomplished. You see, God is into “the GREATER GOOD.” 2 Corinthians 4:17 tells us that “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

Now how does that work? Pastor Ted Smith preached a sermon years ago on why Christians suffer. I wrote it down on the back cover of my Bible because I knew I would need to be reminded again and again.

1. Suffering strengthens our faith. James 1:2-4
2. Suffering exposes wrong in our lives. Psalm 119:67; 1 Corinthians 11:30
3. Suffering teaches us obedience. Psalm 119:71; Hebrews 5:8; Hebrews 12
4. Suffering develops humility. 2 Corinthians 12:7
5. Suffering equips us to minister to others. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Next time you hear the “blender,” remember that something deliciously wonderful is just around the corner - “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8) And if you have to wait a little longer for the good stuff to come, know that He is never late and that what lies ahead is worth the wait.

posted by:
Katie Nielsen
Director of Church Ministries

Fight?

Few things anger me. I am annoyed intensely by a lot of things; things such as the Lakers, bad coffee, Terrel Owens, Mary Murphy, use of the NON-word "irregardless", and USC; just to name a few from my very long list of intensely annoying things.

I am not an angry person as there really are only a few things which anger me. I can only think of a few right now. Poverty, oppression, unloving Christians and their 'evangelism', and maybe the Lakers!

Poverty and oppression are growing more and more rampant in our world and country, especially in a world with things like dying economies, human trafficking, and a cultural battle between the church and LGBT communities in which each side sees the other as sub-human, or at least treats each other as such.

I see these very few things becoming more and more prevalent in our world and our country, and I wonder what I am to do.

Psalm 82:3-4 says:

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor
and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the
wicked.

I read those things and I prayed this morning, (in a fashion I do most mornings, afternoons, and evenings), "God, show me how to love you and love people." I am learning to trust that God will show me how to love more if I desire it from him.

To serve the poor, I am trying to sacrifice all I have. I am beginning the 7th month of a commitment not to purchase any of my clothes first hand unless I KNOW where and how those clothes were made. I make those sorts of decisions and then read 1 Cor. 13:3.

"If I give all I possess to the poor...but have not love, I gain nothing."

I make as many decisions as I can to be one who serves and fights for what is right, but then I read that and wonder if all is for not if I have not truly done it with great love. Do I do these things for the fight or for the love?

An old grandmother once said, "No one ever wins a fight." I think that is what Jesus meant when he said in Matthew 5, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute." This is not pacifism! Just before he said that, Jesus said, "Do not resist an evil person."

When we are angered by things, we want to fight. Jesus tells us to love and pray and be moved with compassion to act, but he never told us to fight.

We fight for things like "honor", but sometimes I wonder if our "honor" is sometimes really pride, fear, or hate that we have called honor.

No one ever wins a fight; but love conquers all.

posted by:
PC Walker
Pastor of College & Young Adult Ministries