Practicing Faith Through Secrecy
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
As the verse above states, one of the primary goals of the disciple is to put the self to death so that Christ may live in and through him or her. Any number of spiritual disciplines are useful in pursuing one or the other aspect of this goal. Some disciplines aid us in overcoming our sin nature. Others enable us to act, speak, and think as Christ did. But it is only through the pursuit of humility that we may put our human nature to death allowing for the growth of our Christ nature.
Two disciplines are particularly effective in the development of humility. Submission is the overt aspect, while secrecy is the covert. Let us consider secrecy first.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus cautions believers to conduct their spiritual acts in secrecy. If we perform them publicly, for the approval of man, that approval is all we will receive for our efforts. If, however, we practice in secret, “…your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18) The nature of the reward is unstated, but God’s reward will always be better than man’s approval.
As Dallas Willard wrote, “Secrecy rightly practiced enables us to place our
public relations department entirely in the hands of God…We allow him to decide when our deeds will be known and when our light will be noticed.”
As Jesus makes clear in Matthew 6, the secret practice of spiritual acts is his expectation, not our option. That being the case, take a look at a few suggestions as to how your own secret practice might begin.
Give secretly.
*Pay for someone’s meal anonymously.
*Give someone cash in an unmarked envelope to meet a need, or provide
encouragement.
*Provide an anonymous scholarship for someone (for example, a student going
to camp or a mission trip).
*Give an anonymous donation to the church or a charity.
Pray/fast secretly.
Don’t say something good about yourself. When the opportunity arises for you to brag on yourself, don’t say it! Instead, brag on others.
Pull for someone you’re in competition with.
Serve anonymously without others knowing “who you are” or your status in life.
Serve…and don’t post about it on social media.
Give to a GoFundMe anonymously.
Donate time to a local nursing home or soup kitchen.
Shovel a neighbor’s driveway.
Think about it.
Pastor Jason