Your Dirty Secrets Aren't Safe ....

Well, I should say, I now know things about certain people I wish I didn't know! Things I NEVER wanted to know.

We all know people who have done things in their past they're not proud of. WE'VE done things in our past we're not proud of, for that matter. However, I have to dub this year of 2011, "the year of slimy revelations!" While it is true that part of my job and ministry involves people telling me their personal business, and together we work through problems and issues - this is NOT that! And the people I'm contracted to help are not my personal friends. They are clients and I am bound to keep their business in the strictest of confidence. My personal friends and even some of my business acquaintances have been "de-cloaked" before my very eyes; and they weren't necessarily trying to let me know... But the pictures emerging are quite clear.

I haven't always been the most discerning person in my lifetime, but experience and dealing with people on the regular, have rewarded me with insights that come in handy when making important decisions. I'm thankful to God for the ability to "read" a situation; but I don't always make a snap judgment when I see questionable behaviors.  I take time to observe. I sometimes make excuses for the individual; sometimes I make allowances and try to reason things out. Unfortunately, lately, my initial instincts have been correct: "if it walks like a duck...."

We all have secrets, granted. I know there are things I don't want the public to know about me - they're just not for general consumption. But it's the pattern of our lives TODAY, that, at the "mature" ages we find ourselves, and the times in which we live, we should be mellowing. We should be growing gracefully.  And if we have religious/spiritual convictions, those characteristics should be evident in our lifestyles and the way treat others. So, I've been stunned recently, by the underhanded ways in which so-called Christians are behaving. These are people who are in leadership, have a wide area of influence, have businesses and hold the immediate lives of their employees and families in their hands. People who, blinded by their egos and greed, may destroy their own careers, ruin their reputations in the community, and trample upon the noble missions they set out to accomplish at the start.

And I'm absolutely too close to these situations. To the point where I've sought counsel  for clarity of my role, and continue to pray for these individuals (as I pray for myself). Oh, and if you are thinking that I could just "talk to them and appeal to their sense of fair play and common decency".... did I mention the word "narcissistic"? No? Well, if you do not know, one of the characteristics of a narcissist is... they do no wrong. There is no empathy, nor any genuine sympathy for others (though they may be engaged in community based and even faith based endeavors)... All things are done so they may shine in the spotlight; receive praise (and monetary gain). If someone else is helped along the way, well, that's nice. But helping others is not the true focus, make no mistake.

So, I would be wasting my breath trying to tell such a person they are going down the wrong path. Remember, they are NEVER wrong! And, I've learned. The Bible says what's done in the dark will come to light...or, more precisely in Luke 8:17 "For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light."(English Standard Version) I'll not tell a lie, I look forward to the day with the Judge of all will bring the cruel, heartless, money-grubbing blasphemers to task. These are the hardest of the hearts, because, by virtue of the fact that they don't feel guilt or shame, they do not see the need to confess, repent, and allow the Spirit of God inside to transform their minds!  I find comfort and peace from the Word of God, where it is written in many places that those who oppress the poor and needy, those who defraud their brothers/sisters, shall be dealt with! ( Deut. 24:14-15; Ps 12:5, 72:4; Prov. 14:31, 22:16, 22-23)

My prayer is "Lord, have mercy!"  My hope is that these colleagues, acquaintances, etc., who persist in perpetrating crimes of the white and blue collar varieties, will wake up out of their fog of pride and arrogance, and see the handwriting on the wall. Some are on the way to public shame, vilification and even criminal charges... (because when you misuse and abuse others continuously, SOMEBODY'S GONNA TELL THE AUTHORITIES!)...

Those of us who have respect for our Creator, Who is all seeing and all knowing, should be much more concerned with what He sees us engaging in, when no one else can see. We should care what He thinks about our behavior, our motives. We should choose to do the RIGHT thing when NOBODY'S watching! (it's called "integrity") Those of us who study His character and ask for His Power to draw us into an intimate relationship with Him, are free from worry about our secrets getting out. We're forgiven, and we don't do those things anymore, by His grace and might. So I pity the fools who continue on the wrong path, the path to destruction and ultimate separation from God.  They're not safe, neither are their secrets. And they're standing on very shaky ground, right alongside the enemy of our souls, who always gets his victims out on a limb, then cuts it off!

"There is a way that seems right to a man,   but its end is the way to death" Proverbs 16:25 (English Standard Version)