Wiki-Bible

Today WikiLeaks announced plans to reveal the CIA’s secret hacking operations. Did you know our government can listen to our conversations through a smart TV and make it appear as if the TV is turned off?

This means someone could be listening to you yell at your kids or talk about your neighbors. Who knows what they have seen or heard!

Personally, while Internet revelations are often embarrassing, I believe they have an upside. They challenge us to up our game when it comes to security, and they force us to ask, “What if someone found out” before we make a decision.

But then, God has been doing this with His Word since the beginning of human history. When Adam and Eve committed the first sin, they hid in the garden. God came to them and called out, “Where are you?” I think God knew exactly where they were. They were like children hiding in a closet or under a bed after doing something mischievous. Perhaps you have cried out to your children, “Where are you?” as you challenged them to come out of the darkness.

I like Paul’s words to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Each of these purposes behind the Word of God is important, but one of them is specifically focused on hidden sin. God’s Word “rebukes” our errant behavior. It exposes blind spots.  It confronts our sin.

I don’t like to be rebuked. I would rather be taught, corrected and trained.

Sometimes, however, God needs to uncover something. He comes looking for me and asks, “Where are you.” And as hard as I try to hide, His Word finds me.

I want to make sure I don’t mischaracterize God. While God wants us to be convicted, He doesn’t necessarily want to embarrass us in front of the whole world. In fact, most of the time God comes to us in the privacy of the printed scripture, and in a place where we can cry out to Him without anyone else knowing. This doesn’t mean there isn’t a need to confess our sins to others (James 5:16), or that there won’t be times when we are called to show godly sorrow toward those we have hurt.

It’s just that God isn’t out to ruin our lives or make a name for Himself. He is already God so He doesn’t need the publicity. His goal is to fashion us into the image of His Son, and as Paul says to Timothy to prepare us for “every good work”.

On the other hand, Satan is out to destroy us. In sadistic fashion, he pulls us into sin and then uses the very same sin to torture us. Sin is Satan’s way of controlling us. The Bible is God’s way of rescuing us and setting us free with His message of grace.

Who knows who will be WikiLeaks’ next victim? Do you think they will ever hack into our permanent school records? Will they expose that unfortunate incident in my life when I was in third grade? Just in case, you need to know I was misrepresented by a teacher who had it out for me!

We should all remember nothing will be exposed that isn’t already known to God. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Hebrews 4:13)

Not even WikiLeaks can claim that.