Toward Transparency

Toward Transparency

Read: Luke 12:1-3

“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed.”

Luke 12:2

“Friends, if we be honest with ourselves, we shall be honest with each other.”

—George MacDonald

IN WORD Most of us have a well-cultivated private side. There are things we don’t want others to know about us. Some of those things would perhaps reflect badly on us; others are simply personal and private. While some people are more open than others, none of us is a completely open book.

Or are we? The book may be closed now, but it will eventually be opened. God already sees all. He sees into our hearts even more clearly than we do. The private things we think as we’re lying down to sleep at night are not hidden from Him; He even knows the motives and causes behind them. And one day, all sin will be exposed. That’s frightening.

We can take comfort in the fact that Colossians says our lives are hidden with Christ in God (3:3). Sin that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus is cleansed indeed, removed from the mind of God farther than the east is from the west. Still, Jesus’ point is sobering: No hypocrisy known to man will be concealed. All will be exposed.

This is a problem for minds well trained by our culture. We’ve been taught to think that our personal behavior is . . . well, personal. “As long as it’s not harming anyone . . . ,” right? We’ve heard it far too often. But sin always has corporate ramifications. It affects our society, and for Christians, it affects the body of Christ. It is inconceivable that one part of the body would be so painfully infected while others are untouched. No, when the body is revealed, so will all its members—and its diseases—be revealed.

IN DEED Jesus speaks of hypocrisy more harshly than any other sin. The cost of hiding our secrets is higher than the cost of confessing them. The question we must all ask ourselves is this: How honestly are we living within the body of Christ? Are we really genuine with others? We might as well be transparent now; one day, whether we like it or not, we will be.