Last May, when I was asked to speak at a women’s event in Tucson on the topic of humility, I began reading what I could, researching Scriptures, and studying different commentaries.
To be honest, humility wasn’t a topic I’d marinated in much…
It’s not that I thought I didn’t need some lessons on the subject, and definitely wanted to live with more humility (Paul is pretty straightforward that Jesus-followers should have that same attitude as Jesus), but the whole idea smacked with the similarity of praying for patience.
Almost everybody knows how that turns out…
At the time, I figured it would be about a 2-3 month “seminary-style-course” and I’d be done.
Oh no…not true…
All through this year, EvErYwHeRe (!) I turn, EvErY (!) book I read, EvErY (!) day it seems that the concept of humility is snuck in between words, paragraphs, pages and even on billboard advertisements.
Obviously, I’ve a long way to go in my understanding.
This week’s been no exception to this rule.
New book.
New lessons.
Truth is that I wish I could just copy and paste a couple of chapters right here, but I doubt the author of the current book I’m reading would take kindly to it.
So, let me distill one concept in particular that I’ve been sitting on, and need to begin practicing, if pride is going to take a back seat and weaken.
The author, Mark Buchanan, of the book Your God is Too Safe, makes this comment:
“There are some sins that we keep constant vigilance over. Pride is one of them. It’s a shape-shifter, a master of masquerade. It often cloaks itself as humility – perhaps pride’s most effective and attractive costume.”
Ouch.
True.
I’ve even discussed this very notion of how pride often masks itself – it has a tendency to dress like a tax collector on the outside, while inside is every inch the Pharisee, trying to look humble and holy, when not. You can read that blog here: (A Pharisee in Tax Collector’s Clothing).
That’s exactly why, suggests Buchanan, we need to incorporate dead space, margin, aloneness, and, most of all, quiet into our lives through the spiritual disciplines of silence and solitude.
In this space, where the Lord has our full attention, He can strip away our masquerade and reveal the Pharisee within.
In this place, dead space (which feels awkward, uncomfortable, and dreadful to almost every human) becomes Holy Ground.
There, we are most likely to find burning bushes of our own, where the Lord speaks intimately with us.
I’d discovered this in my study, as well, the importance of sitting with the Lord and putting into practice spiritual disciplines, “holy habits.”
BUT, there’s a discipline never really incorporated within my common list; a holy habit sure to weaken and remove the masks of pride we live under. The practice of:
SECRECY.
(To be honest, I had to look that up – I wasn’t sure that it really was a spiritual discipline, but, yep, sure is! You can google for much more information…)
Definition: the act of keeping something as secret.
Secrecy is not the same as being secretive.
Definition: the act of hiding, or concealing, information with a conspiratorial attitude
Things we want to hide (secretive), we most often ought to confess (another holy habit).
However, things we want to verbalize, or make known, we, most often, need to keep anonymous.
Confused?
When used as a spiritual discipline, the act of secrecy dresses in the garments of humility.
This kind of secrecy
“acts on the belief that the reward of God matters more than the reward of man
(Mark Buchanan).”
Here are some Scriptures:
Psalm 51:6. “You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.”
Isaiah 45:3. “I will give you treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by name.”
Matthew 6:4. “(Let) your alms…be done in secret; and, your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:6. “Whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret and your Father who sees in Secret will reward you.
The late Dallas Willard once described the practice of secrecy as, “Consciously refraining from having our good deeds and qualities generally made known, which, in turn rightly disciplines our longing for recognition.”
As he went on, he wrote, “Secrecy rightly practiced enables us to place our public relations department entirely in the hands of God…”
That’s the part, I needed to hear this week: Secrecy rightly practiced enables me to place my public relations department entirely in the hands of God.
Goodness.
That certainly resonated with a sounding bell of conviction within my soul!
Far too often, I want to make sure I get the proper credit, the applause, the pat on the back, the recognition, the validation, and the admiration.
Instead, can I slip into the background, allow the Lord to handle the time and the place for my light to shine for His glory?
Can I be content to “do in secret,” where it matters not at all what others think about me, or say about me?
Might I be more John-the-Baptist-like that He might be greater and I might be less?
Might I be more Jesus-like that I’m able to be more about the interests of others than my own?
Look at this statement one more time.
Hold it for a while in your heart.
What would that look like for us to do just this?
Secrecy rightly practiced enables me to place my public relations department entirely in the hands of God.
In our current “selfie” culture, where public affirmation is as close as our cell phones and social media posts, this “training in righteousness” might remove the temptation for self-promotion, seeking only and needing only the joy of a simple nod from God Himself.
