Mark 9:33-34
Secrets
can be hard to keep. Some would say that you can’t hide a secret, that you will
tell other people through very subtle gestures, primarily facial expressions.
The TV show Lie to Me gives some
insight into this science. The face telegraphs the deceptions that the heart is
committing. And people can be trained to read those signs. I am not sure it is
as exacting and as accurate as that TV show portrays, but there is something to
it.
I
have found that people can’t help but tell their story. If you sit and talk
with people over time, they will tell you their secrets. They will do it either
openly, or by what they don’t say. For instance, if they talk about their
family growing up, but fail to mention their father, that tells you something
about their relationship with their father. Was he absent, dead, divorced,
abusive? The silence on the issue tells you something. People can’t help but
tell their stories.
The
disciples had used their time while traveling to have an informal discussion
about who among them was the greatest disciple. And before we get too superior,
we have all wondered where we fit in the hierarchy of importance at one time in
our lives. When you lined up at recess to be picked for the team, no one wanted
to be picked last! Or when the other person was picked for the promotion and
you weren’t. Or they got the job and you didn’t.
I
wonder who won the argument that day. Which disciple would you put on the top?
Peter? Thomas? You see how easy it is to slip into competition!
The
funny thing is, Jesus knows what they have been talking about, even though they
wanted to keep it a secret. So Jesus gives them an opportunity to come clean.
He simply ask them the content of their discussion. They could have told them
the results of the straw poll. They could have asked for His opinion, and then
the winner could have said, “I told you so!” But none of this happens. They
keep silent.
What
things are you trying to keep secret from Jesus? Wouldn’t it be much better to
just be open with Him! He knows what we talk about with our friends and
co-workers. He knows our inner thoughts. Let’s just be open with Him about what
we view as secrets. Let’s open up that world to dialogue with the One who knows
it all and can lead us out of our inner darkness.