What's Your Secret?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to read someone's mind? To see what deep dark secrets lurk within? Well now you can, thanks to an interesting site called PostSecret.

The premise is simple really - people create postcards expressing something which is true about themselves that they've never told anyone... and then they mail it to him and he posts a photo. The resulting blog is a collage of collective secrets, things people are afraid to reveal to anyone else. Take this one for example...

Stuff like this is fairly representative. The artwork is generally interesting; the content is often dark and heavy.

What fascinates (and grieves) me most, however, is how much baggage and hurt folks are carting around. Some might say that it's only self-absorbed, navel-gazers who actually feel this way inside; Scripture says such is the universal condition of fallen man - there is no one righteous, not even one; we are all sinful, worshippers of self rather than of God (Rom 3:10-12).

So why do people get off on a site like this? Why does this guy receive more secrets than he can post? There is something cathartic about confession. God designed us that way. But confession alone can't change things, make them better. Consider this comment from someone in Texas...

I was very excited because I too had a secret I wanted to post. I thought long and hard about how I wanted to word my secret and I searched for the perfect postcard to display it on. After I had created my postcard I stepped back to admire my handiwork. Instead of feeling relieved that I had finally got my secret out, I felt terrible instead. It was right then that I decided that I didn't want to be the person with that secret any longer. I ripped up my postcard and I decided to start making some changes in my life.

Kudos to this person for realizing we need to do more than just admit we have a problem. After all, simply talking about it doesn't change anything.

Sometimes, however, we are powerless to change even when we want to - a quick look through this book of secrets will make it plain that much of this stuff is beyond people's control. People are enslaved by their secrets, and neither confession nor human effort can change their situation. That's because their problem stems from their hearts (cf. Mk 7:14-23).

Anyone who has ever loved someone they know they shouldn't can tell you just how difficult it is to simply stop feeling they way you feel. Seldom does our intellect succeed in driving our affections - usually its our affections, desires, lusts, and addictions that drive everything else.

The only hope of change, is to find a change of heart. And that's precisely what Christ offers.

What's your secret, the one keeping you in bondage? I am living proof that God changes hearts. But the only way it happens is by admitting your need and calling on Christ to save you, putting your confidence in him rather than yourself.

If you are looking for freedom, I know the secret to finding it...