Keeping Secrets

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
~1 John 1:7

Honesty is not the best policy; it’s the only policy. Let me tell you why.

Honesty is about authenticity, integrity, and, by and large, about truth—whether we love it, seek it, and do it. It has to do with goodness, for nothing frustrates our progress toward goodness like a devious and untruthful heart. And, I must add, honesty has to do with happiness for there can be no true happiness apart from goodness. That’s an adage that’s been around for centuries: virtue makes you happy; vice (even vice that no one can see) makes you sad.

That’s why Jesus served up His sternest words for the hypocrites of his day, who spoke “from under a mask.” (The Greek word hupokrita means exactly that.) He wasn’t trying to shame these folks; he wanted them to know the joy of those who live in the light.

George MacDonald wrote,

“Half the misery in the world comes from trying to look, instead of trying to be, what one is not. I would that not God only but all good men and women might see me through and through. They would not be pleased with everything they saw, but then neither am I, and I would have no coals of fire in my soul’s pockets!”

Honesty has a way of bringing evil into the light and exposing it for what it is. It’s like turning on a lamp in a dark room. We may see dreadful things there, but at least we see them. If we keep secrets and hide from the light we’ll never see the truth about ourselves. Everything will be rationalized and reshaped into something other than it is. Dishonesty messes with our minds; it muddles everything. We become secretive, evasive, and fearful of exposure. And the odd thing is that, though we do not see ourselves, others do and begin to distrust us. They sense that something is wrong. And, as my wife says, “If something is [seems] wrong, something is wrong.”

On the other hand, when we live in the open, though others may not be pleased with everything they see in us, there is a wonderful ease and simplicity in our relationships. Could that be what John meant when he wrote, “If we walk in the light . . . we have fellowship with one another” (1 John 1:7)?

That’s why I pray with David, “Cleanse me from concealed things” (Psalm 19:12), stuff I want to keep out of sight. I too would have no coals of fire in my soul’s pockets. I’m not pleased with everything I see in me, but I want to ring true. And someday soon, thank God, we’ll all be where we will “know one another even as we are known,” where there’ll be no secrets at all. Won’t that be something to see!