Secrets

I’ve got a secret.

As we all know, secrets carry power.  Many leaders have been ruined by the revelation of their secrets.  Politicians (such as Gary Hart and John Edwards) and pastors (such as Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Baker) have been humbled by the public revelation of their private secrets.

To be sure, there are both healthy secrets and unhealthy secrets.  I don’t have plans to share my social security number or VISA number in this letter.  These are healthy secrets.  But, there are unhealthy secrets – secrets that twist our hearts and burden our souls; secrets which cause us to stay awake at night for fear of being found out.

Just this past week, PastorServe advised a pastor in the writing of a letter of resignation, sent to his congregation.  His resignation revolved around secrets.  The core of the letter of resignation read as follows… “I embarked down a road of keeping secrets”… I’m not sure what is worse, the sin itself, or the secret life of hiding.”

Heartbreaking.  Countless pastors have left the church because of walking a road of keeping secrets.  They kept secrets because they convince themselves that if they reveal secrets – they will walk alone.

Pastors must have a safe place to go to share their secrets.  Pastors who meet with PastorServe staff regularly begin sentences with the words – “I’ve never told anyone about this…”  And, when the secret is shared, the shackles of secrecy which have enslaved their heart are broken.

Focus on the truth of the Gospel.  Find a friend with whom you can share secrets – and, embark on a new course of honesty and freedom.