By Calvin Landrus, SRCFC National Director
Are secret crags or climbing areas acceptable? In the latest issue of Vertical Times from the Access Fund (read the article) an article on that topic opens with this: "Nothing rouses climbers more than newness: new gear, new partners, new routes, and, most important, new crags. The novelty of a freshly developed crag excites climbers and gets their forearm blood pumping. So imagine when new crags are built on the down low-climbers quietly and sparingly spread the beta, keeping a tight lip. This can foster strain within the community and tension with landowners, which can lead to access issues."
If you are one of those climbers who know about a secret crag, you feel like an insider. Just like an insider on Wall Street who has access to non-public information about the companies, you have information that provides admission to areas that only a few other insiders know.
In 1 Corinthians 4:1, the apostle Paul wrote of himself and his ministry team, "So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God." As a Christ-follower, you too are an insider; not because the information is not made available to all by God but because only a few take the steps to bring that information into their lives.
These secrets in Scripture are not 'Who Done It' mysteries. They are not insoluble problems, strange and mysterious riddles nobody can grasp. They are secrets hidden from the human experience in general, but available to those who are in the inner circle because they are willing to be taught by the Spirit.
Ray Stedman, long-time pastor of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, CA, wrote on this topic: "They are certain essential elements which I must know if I am going to handle life properly, and which I cannot learn anywhere else. Not in all the libraries or universities of earth, nor in all the research of science, nor in all the thinking of philosophers -- not in any of the investigation of human knowledge and wisdom -- can I ever find the truths which are hidden here. These are what mark this as God's book, the essential book about life."
What are some of these essential insider secrets? I would like to share with you three that Stedman shared in his article called "The Secrets of God." (See raystedman.org)
The first one scattered throughout the Scriptures is referred to repeatedly as "the secret of the kingdom of God." (Mark 4:11) This is the fact that in the midst of the world around us, with nature and people and books and trees and houses and all the other visibilities of life -- right in the midst of it, permeating all of it, and governing and controlling everything -- is a secret, invisible kingdom. It is the kingdom of God. God is in control.
Most climbers don't want to acknowledge God's presence and control. They like to think that since they can scale this or that, they are in control. Yet without this knowledge of the kingdom of God and that it is God in control of human endeavors and activities, including climbing, life becomes meaningless, empty, and devoid of purpose. But with that inside knowledge, all is "well with my soul" and we are able to handle the difficult and trying circumstances.
The second secret is declared by the Apostle Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 (NIV), "For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work." How we struggle with this! Who hasn't asked, "Why did this happen to me? Why do I have to go through this experience? Why does cancer suddenly strike a dear one?" You must face these questions.
The one of the main answers in Scripture is that there is a malevolent (one wishing evil or harm to others) called Satan, prince of a great kingdom of darkness and evil, a kingdom of millions of beings like himself who are in headlong stampede against the government of God, in revolt and rebellion against him, and who are intent on wrecking and smashing and mangling all the love-born plans of God for the human race.
The third secret is God's answer to this power of lawlessness (and a key to all victorious living). In 2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV) is found, "Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great." One can never escape the struggle of life, but you can go through it in Godly way. You don't have to be defeated. You don't have to be torn apart and discouraged and bored and jealous and envious and anxious and fretful. You can win, by means of the secret of godliness. It is simply the fantastic, radical principle that God intends to live in man.
Godliness is made possible because man is to be the dwelling place of God. And, through the cross and the resurrection, God has set aside man's guilt and provided for his weakness and powerlessness. He has given us a way of handling life as it comes -- through the power and the activity of God himself, living in you. That is the mystery of godliness -- the greatest secret the world has ever heard of!
This past February, in their home near Atlanta Georgia, I sat on the couch of Mark and Melissa Robertson. It had only been few months since their son, Joshua, had died in a fall while climbing (Read his dad's message given at Josh's memorial). Although I sensed they were still putting some of the pieces together, I saw a peace in their lives that could only be from them living in the secret places of God.
T. S. Elliot described life this way: "All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance. And all our ignorance brings us nearer to death. But nearer to death, no nearer to God." Then he asks, "Where is the life that we have lost in living?" It is possible, is it not, to lose life while you are living it because you don't know the hidden wisdom, the secrets of God? My challenge for me and you is to ask, how faithful of a steward are we of these great secrets? Are we living out this "insider's" information? Are these riches God has entrusted to us to being disseminated through our lives to others?
