Last week, before our holiday, we had a music practice at church where we were learning the Phil Wickham song ‘The Secret Place.’ Coming back from holiday and reading Dave’s sermon notes reminded me of the absolute need for there to be no difference between how we are in private compared to how we are in public and the importance of the need for us to run to God and develop our relationship with Him in that secret place (see Matt 6:6). Our faith has to be lived out in the home, in church and in public; there must be consonance (‘agreement or compatibility between opinions or actions‘) and congruence (‘agreement in harmony’) in our lives if our witness is to be effective. We can’t afford to be hypocrites; we can’t afford to wear masks and be different people in different settings.
I believe God wants there to be no dissonance (lack of harmony or agreement) in our lives. He wants us to be genuine, authentic people who do not live fragmented lives. Much heartache is caused when we say one thing and do another, when we model something other than reality to ourselves, let alone to others. Our mental and emotional health is damaged when we pretend to be something we’re not; our witness is damaged if we don’t practise what we preach.
We cannot start at the end, however. What we are in public is the end result of what we are in private; it doesn’t work the other way round! That’s why the ‘secret place’ with God is so important. We have to carve time out of our busy schedules to be with Jesus; we have to learn to communicate with Him privately before ever we can come before Him in public. When the wells run dry, when the winds start to blow, we have to know where to run and hide; we have to know where to find shelter. (Ps 91:1-2)
Then, when we have been with Jesus, we have the boldness, love, humility and forgiveness Dave preached about. We have the character of Christ formed within us. We are changed from the inside out. Life in the company of Jesus, Eugene Peterson says, ‘is not a discussion group but an act of becoming.’ (‘Tell It Slant’, P 65) We become like those whose values and company we share. Let’s become like Jesus.