Three Secrets

Please Note: Over the next few days I am changing this site. The address will stay the same, but I have to transfer to a new software, new server, new format, new look, new features, etc. But it’s the same old me.

While making these changes, I plan to re-post some of my favorite entries from former days. Please bear with me as I learn how to work this new system.

— Thanks, John

Over this past weekend I almost did something good for somebody.

Didn’t do it.

But I intended to.

Big deal. Back on July 10, 1736, John Wesley, founder of Methodism, wrote in his diary, “It is a true saying, Hell is paved with good intentions”.

Actually, I intended to do good deeds for two different needs but I did not do either of them. One project I was physically unable to; the other self aborted.

That being the case, I suppose it’s ok for me to tell about it. Had I actually done a good deed Jesus actually forbids my letting anyone know about it. Doing good is one of the three things He commands that we do in secret.

He said, “Take care not to do your good works before men, to be seen by them; or you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. When then you give money to the poor, do not make a noise about it, as the false-hearted men do in the Synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly, I say to you, They have their reward”.

He said to do good in secret, “So that your giving may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward”.

When it comes to doing secret good, Jesus said, “Let not your left hand see what your right hand does”.

I can do the Lord one better—most of the time my right hand does not even know what my right hand is doing”!

So, even though I did not do or give or accomplish anything good, maybe I learned something valuable from this weekend’s experience.

First, I learned that I shouldn’t give what belongs to somebody else.

I’d encountered this poor family and I intended to do something good for them, but since I lacked enough cash to do it, I planned to use somebody else’s money to do it.

That’s a no-no.

As Kind David said, “Shall I offer unto the Lord that which cost me nothing”?

When I sought the counsel (and the cash) of somebody I knew could afford to do what I intended, he pointed out the difference between helping the poor family and meddling in their life. He noted that they had not asked for my help, and he pointed out that they did actually need what I wanted to give but that I had a bug in my ass to give them something that I thought they ought to have. It was all my idea.

As St. Peter said, “Let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters,”

Instead of acting out of a heart full of Christian charity, I was being a busybody.

I think the reason Jesus said to give in secret was to save us embarrassment. If the world really knew how little I give in proportion to what I keep and spend on myself, I’d be ashamed.

I recall an old cartoon from some magazine: this guy in a business suit sits of a park bench feeding pigeons. Beside him he’s placed this large sign proclaiming:

These Crumbs Are Brought To You By A Grant From The John W. Cowart Foundation.

Jesus said to give in secret.

He also said we are to pray in secret.

“And when you make your prayers, be not like the false-hearted men, who take pleasure in getting up and saying their prayers in the Synagogues and at the street turnings so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.

“But when you make your prayer, go into your private room, and, shutting the door, say a prayer to your Father in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward….”

Again, obeying Him saves us from embarrassment; if folks realized how little I pray…

Personally I feel reluctant to tell somebody, “I’m praying for you”.

That statement presupposes that my prayers are bigger and more effective than your prayers. I’m a better, more pious Christian than you are. Your puny prayers don’t work; my powerful prayers do because I have an inside track with the Almighty. I’m a superior Prayer Warrior!

That’s ridiculous.

I think it better if I were going to pray for somebody, that I just do it. There’s no Heavenly reason for them to know about it, is there?

The third thing Jesus said we should do in secret is fast:

“And when you go without food, be not sad-faced as the false-hearted are. For they go about with changed looks, so that men may see that they are going without food. Truly I say to you, They have their reward. But when you go without food, put oil on your head and make your face clean; so that no one may see that you are going without food, but your Father in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward”.

That’s one commandment I keep with bells on.

Just look at my photo—All 270 pounds of me.

You’ll never in this world guess how much I fast!

If we think our religion is real, there is no reason for anyone else to be told about it.

You can be a Christian on a desert island 500 miles from any other living soul.

Our relationship is with God. It need not be on public display.

And, if I truly believe Jesus, I do not need affirmation from any outsider.

But…but…but, how will anybody know that I’m a born-again, fire-baptized, card-carrying Man Of God if I don’t let them know it?

Well, there’s one thing Jesus said I can do which need not be kept secret:

He said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another”.

Oh. That.