When my wife’s parents retired they moved back to her father’s birthplace farm. It was a grand place to take our children in the summer and at Christmas. One year we found the old manure spreader in the woods. We thought it was wonderful and got the tractor and pulled it out into the yard. We thought it would be beautiful once filled with flowers. Her uncle who had lived there all his life and had used the spreader thought it was horrible. Things like that belonged out of sight and not in the yard for all to see. Needless to say it disappeared back into the woods.
Sometimes in church I remember that “honey wagon” and my wife’s uncle’s reaction. It comes to mind during prayer request time when people publicly tell things that should remain in the woods. God knows the secrets of our hearts and there is nothing to be gained by telling salacious tales for the voyeurs in the congregation. We should not utter embarrassing details that only God should hear. Actually we can permanently harm ourselves or others by being overly forthright.
But someone might say James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins one to another, that you may be healed.” There is a significant catharsis when we get something off our chests. It is healing to have a burden lifted. If it is a public sin then public confession is very helpful. However, there are certain things that should only be shared with Jesus, especially when it involves others who could be damaged by our saying too much. One thing that is wonderful is those secrets we tell Jesus will be blotted out and He will choose never to remember them.
Written by Roger Bothwell on November 27, 2012
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