Nobody Knows
(Editorial - June 1999)
It could be a spurt of profanity reacting to sudden pain or frustration and we look around hoping nobody heard us. Or maybe it’s immoral behavior; people may suspect but they can’t tell for sure. Or domestic abuse we hope is not noticed. Or perhaps we’re drinking heavily or abusing drugs but we’re hiding it pretty well, so we think. Or maybe we’re hooked on pornography but think we’re covering our tracks, or we’re habitually coming up with invalid excuses as to why we can’t do our part, but surely nobody knows they’re invalid.
Nobody knows! We’d be terribly embarrassed if they did and dreadfully ashamed if Christ suddenly appeared at our side.
What an odd way of thinking, especially when we are fully convinced the Lord knows the unspoken cry of our hearts when we pray. How can he know the silent prayer and not know the hidden sins? It doesn’t make sense, but it’s the way many of us think and act from time to time.
How the wicked think
We read Psalm 10 with dismay at the perversity of the wicked:
"He [the wicked] hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity. His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud..." (Psa. 10:6-7). It is evident the wicked man thinks he can slander and curse at will and God will simply ignore it.
"He [the wicked] hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it" (v. 11). Because he couldn’t see God, the sinner felt God paid his iniquity no heed.
"Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it" (v. 13). As God did not immediately punish sin, the wicked concluded God never would act.
But Psalm 10 is not only about the habitually wicked, it is also about those who occasionally practice iniquity -- those whose mouth is full of profanity on occasion and think no one has heard: those who engage in immoral conduct and, when nothing happens, feel God has forgotten: those who are addicted and feel no evil will befall them.
Psalm 10 probably portrays every one of us on occasion, for when we say, "Nobody knows," we are thinking in common with the wicked man.
Beware false excuses
When we consider Psalm 94, we recoil in dismay at the works of iniquity:
"They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it" (Psa. 94:5-7).
The Lord’s response was quick and pointed: "Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?" (vv. 8-9).
As we would never deliberately hurt the needy among God’s people, can we pass over this passage? When we accepted our calling, we were called not only to avoid active brutality but actively to do good.
"Whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (I John 3:17-18).
Because of a booming economy, financial help is only occasionally needed within North American ecclesias. When such need does arise, do we open our hands wide or make meaningless excuses which the Lord knows are such?
Our obligations do not stop at the local level. In the September, 1998, magazine, Bro. Andrew Walker, Chairman, CBMUK, asked our help in the Caribbean, especially Jamaica. The British brethren have been overwhelmed by needs in Africa and Eastern Europe (see the articles on Albania, Macedonia and Bro. Matt Patterson’s experiences in Kazakhstan) and sought modest assistance from North American ecclesias. How are we doing in our response (contributions for this need are now being handled by the CBMA, 7723 Second St., Downey, CA 90241). As many of us have seen our investments jump in value beyond anything we had imagined, there is no doubt that we have the resources to help within our ecclesias. We may assume nobody knows the reserves we have, so we can quietly keep all to ourselves for early retirement or second homes. But the Lord knows.
Remember, too, the preaching work in which we have been called to participate. Preaching requires not only money, but also our time and energy. As we noted in the March, 1999, magazine, our North American ecclesias are starting to do better in this regard. We have a long way to go, however, to match the example set by the brotherhood in Britain and Australia, to say nothing of the first-century ecclesias. Our problem is clearly exposed in the article by Bro. Matt -- we’re too comfortable. We’ve become so accustomed to the comfortable life, we have trouble breaking away from it for the challenges of some mission areas. Visiting foreign countries on business is not a problem; we stay in first-class accommodations and only see the deprivation from a distance. But, as Bro. Matt dramatically brings out, it’s an enlightening and enriching experience to visit people in their homes and live in their surroundings.
We’ve offered many excuses for not responding to the call, "Go into all the world..." Nobody knows whether or not they are valid, nobody knows but those who are most important -- God, Christ and the angels.
A problem with theology?
"Our absent Lord Jesus" is a phrase heard among us. Is he
really absent? Obviously we can’t see him and his visible reign on earth has not
begun, but surely we’ve heard his words to all ecclesias:
"These things saith he that...walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks" ("the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches").
"I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience..."
"I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty..."
"I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience...
"I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or
hot" (Rev. 2:1; 1:20; 2:2, 9, 19; 3:1, 15).
The Lord is very much among us seeing what we do, knowing our motives, evaluating our spiritual condition. When we bring in the restricted videos or practice cruelty in our homes, does anyone know? He knows! When we make invalid excuses for inaction, He knows.
We may also have a mistaken idea of the Lord as judge. Based on the parables of the pounds and talents, we may believe he never judges us until we come before him at his return. We may think it is only then he opens the book on our lives and reviews whom we are and what we have done. But parables are designed to make certain points; they are not intended to tell the whole story (as witness the Rich Man and Lazarus, pg. ???). The judgment parable of the sheep and goats presents a different picture -- that of a Lord who has already made up his mind before people stand before him. Thus he immediately separates them into faithful and wicked.
As can be seen from the Revelation verses, the Lord’s judging is an ongoing process: "For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son" (John 5:22). He is now our judge and his evaluation of our thoughts, our actions, our words is going on right now.
Are we walking in the light, faithful in Christ? Whether or not anybody else knows, the Lord knows and he’s the one who counts.
Don Styles