I am currently reading Gordon MacDonald’s book, Rebuilding Your Broken World. I have to be honest, it is a humbling book to read. The basic premise of the book so far is that all of us go through broken world experiences and have things that happen to us or because of us that cause our worlds to crumble (or are near someone else when their world crumbles).
I am reading this book for my own benefit, for my own broken world experiences. One of the issues that MacDonald addresses in the book is secrets; those untouchable, unmentionable, skeletons-in-our-closets that we rarely talk about.
Secrets. We all have them. What are yours? Just kidding. I would never go as far as to challenge you to post them on here, but I would like to pass on something that MacDonald has challenged me with:
“. . . I thought of what might be called the underside of the church: those numberless people who walk into sanctuaries all over the world carrying their secrets behind bright clothing and forced smiles. They sing the songs, pray the prayers, listen to the sermons. And all the while the secrets fester within the private world causing either a constantly broken heart or a hardened heart. They come in fear of their secrets being exposed and they quite likely go in fear that they will have to live this way for the rest of their lives. Believe me, the underside of the church is there, listening and watching to find out whether there is anyone with home their secret might be safe if revealed.” (pp. 54-55)
This passage hits home, and hits home hard. I think there are two major implications that this paragraph could have on the reality of Christianity and the state of the church.
First, if there are that many people walking into the church around the world with secrets or broken world experiences why isn’t the church doing anything about it? Why are there not more people standing beside those who experience these moments? If there are so many people living with secrets, why don’t we see more people helping those work through their broken world experiences?
Secondly, this makes me think about the countless number of people who have nothing to do with the church that see the people who attend as “hypocrites” and “fakes;” wanting nothing to do with the church. Could this be why? Does the world with its watchful eye know something we don’t? Do they recognize that we all have secrets and know that these smiling church-goers are not really being real? Does this lack of transparency great a mistrust that leads to the labels the church is given?
MacDonald’s book really has me challenged to look deeper into the ways that we can help people, become more transparent and find safe environments to share our secrets.
One thing that I have learned so far from MacDonald is how valuable relationships are. I admit I have been abusing relationships or running from them my whole life. We all desire to be in a relationship with a person who knows us so well that they can see through the secrets. Sometimes it hurts that they knows us so well, but there is an undefinable value in having someone in your life who knows you so well that they can love you to your core.
Maybe you have some secrets you need to get out, maybe you don’t, one place I would encourage you to check out for a more creative outlet is the Post Secret Community . The idea started out by Frank Warren as a way to anonymously send in a postcard with a secret on it. The postcards were then used creatively in artwork on display in galleries. Since then, numerous books have been published with these funny, insightful and sometimes heartbreaking postcards. But the website and books are worth checking out.
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