On the
political landscape elected officials play the transparency card, but if there
were true transparency there would be no need for subpoenas, public records
requests and investigative reporters. On the spiritual level we’d like to think
that Christians are above reproach; however, even they can lack
transparency. Paul said, “Therefore
judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will
bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s
hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God” (1 Cor 4:5 NIV).
1 comment:
Gail;
-----The one thing we can never forget in regards to other people, let alone our brothers and sisters, is that nobody is without sin. This is why we can not judge. Only perfection can judge correctly. But imperfection can rather judge generally. And man, oh man, do we make a heyday of that!
-----Therefore, this transparency thing is overrated. It is critically important in democrat-republic politics. In such, guidelines are imperative to the strength of the nation. Guidelines set forth in social contracts, like say, The Constitution. For such contracts become the first law of the land making them the foundation upon which all other law rests. Then if that contract is broken, the foundation is broken, and cracks begin appearing everywhere, not just in the law, but in society as well. This is man made stuff. It must be maintained at the best of our abilities for our man made stuff to survive.
-----The spiritual contract is different. That is between an imperfect human and the perfect God. Here, transparency is certainly where it is needed. God sees all. Our spiritual contracts involve our fellow humans, especially those of the house of faith. But they are not between us and them. Our spiritual contracts are between each person and the One God, and they affect our fellows.
-----Therefore, not only does the Bible not call for total transparency between us, it calls for some privacy. When the laborers who worked all day for the vineyard owner grumbled about those hired in the eleventh hour receiving the same pay, they were basically told to mind their own business. Likewise, when Peter grumbled at what manner of life and death Jesus foretold he would have and pointed out John querying, “Lord, what about this man?” (John 21:23) Jesus basically told him to mind his own business. Indeed, Paul bids us to keep the faith that we have between ourselves and God. (Rom 14:22) Moreover, Revelation 2:17 shows the definite limit transparency will have in heaven, “and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone which no one knows except him who receives it.”
-----This leaves each one of us owned entirely by God, but only partly by one another. Or maybe I should say “rented by one another,” because we only have to do with one another in so much as we have effect upon one another. Where there is effect there is responsibility, and in so far as we have the ability to be responsible we have the necessity to be transparent. But beyond our ability to be responsible there is no demand for transparency. And it is good this way, because our boundaries of responsibilities are drawn at the points of our inabilities. And that land of our inabilities is a messy, misunderstood, ill conceived place. Transparency into that area would just make us all hostile towards each other since we are all so pitifully poor at forgiveness.
-----I am much more protective of my place kept between myself and the Lord than is spiritually healthy. This is not helped by Rev 2:17 assuring me that I will have a place of inner solitude for all eternity. All that can help is how the transparency I am to the Lord plays upon my desire to be His. The more desire it creates, the more my boundaries of responsibility encroach upon my inabilities, correcting them into abilities, and thus increasing the transparency which I do owe the people I effect.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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