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“Thou are not the holier though thou be praised nor the more vile though thou be blamed or dispraised. What thou art,
that thou art; that God knoweth thee to be and thou canst be said to be no greater… For a man ever to do well and to
think little of himself is token of a meek soul. For a man not to wish to be comforted by any creature is a token of great
purity and inward trust. He that seeketh no outward witness for himself, is appeareth openly that he hath committed himself
all wholly to God.” - Thomas a Kempis
One of the greatest fallacies of our faith, and actually one of the greatest acts of unbelief, is the thought that our spiritual
acts and virtues need to be advertised to be known. We see the frantic and hot-hearted efforts of religious organizations
and spiritual groups advertising and certifying themselves, and is it not a stunning revelation of lack of true, God-fearing,
rich spirituality?
Secrecy isn’t keeping secrets from other people (though who is to say that is wrong?). The secrecy mentioned here is
keeping from causing our good deeds and good qualities to be known. We may even take steps to prevent them from being known,
though to go into the realm of deceit is never a good idea. Secrecy helps us to lose or tame the hunger for fame, justification,
attention of others. The discipline more-so than others will often require a greater need for grace. But as we practice this
discipline, we find that we adore being unknown and we love the misunderstanding about us and our deeds, and love it with
peace, joy and purpose. In secrecy we experience a continuing relationship with God independent of the opinions of others.
“Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion
from the strife of tongues.” - Psalm 31:20, KJV
Secrecy forces us to place our public relations department entirely in the hands of God, who lit our candles so we could be
the light of the world, not so we could hide under a bushel:
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth
good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set
on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light
unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:13-16, KJV
Some might argue that Jesus is telling us to show our good works to everyone. No! We must allow God to decide when our deeds
will be known, and when our light will be noticed. We must not force or shove our good deeds down other peoples’ throats.
We must let God decide where people will taste the salt that we are; the saltshaker is in His hands, as well as the button
of the flashlight that is our lives. We must allow him to decide; we will find that when we live in secrecy, God will expound
our influence, bless us, and let our deeds have greater affects on those around us, because He is in charge of deciding who
notices and who doesn’t.
Secrecy teaches us to have love and humility before God and others. In turn, that love and humility encourages us to see our
neighbors in the best possible light, even to the point of our hoping they will do better and appear better than us! Via secrecy
we find that it is possible for us to “do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider
others better than ourselves,” as Philippians 2:3 says. And if you want to experience the flow of love as never before,
the next time you are in a competitive situation, pray that the others around you will be more outstanding, more praised,
and more used of God than yourself. Really pull for them and rejoice for their successes. What do you think would happen if
Christians would universally pray this for each other? The earth, I believe, would be filled with the knowledge of God’s
glory! Secrecy can lead us into this kind of wonderful experience.
Also, the needs that arise in our efforts to serve God can often be handled by looking to God only, not telling others that
there is a need, but counting on God to tell them. This is another aspect of the realm of secrecy. When we ask God alone for
help instead of asking others, God will provide. And when we see our needs met because we have asked God alone, our faith
in God’s presence and care will be greatly increased. But if we always tell others of the need, we will have little
faith in God, and our entire spiritual life will suffer because of it.
And in all we do in the arena of secrecy, let’s never forget the words of Jesus:
“That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret,
shall reward thee openly.” - Matthew 6:18, KJV
God sees our works – not only fasting, but good deeds and prayers and acts of charity – in secret; and when we
keep it secret, we say to God, “Okay, here you go. This is done for you and only you. No one else knows, and it will
stay that way.” And God, from who we can hide nothing, who sees and knows all things, will reward us openly. That’s
a promise straight from Jesus’ mouth.
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