One of the most damning accusations against anything today which involves three or more people is secrecy. We on the outside of any thing are suspicious of what is hidden, and rightly so. The primary reason for hiding things is to gain more power by preventing defense against an attack, metaphorical or otherwise. This is not merely some unreasoning emotional response to exclusion, but deeply rooted in human experience. You are excluded because you are less important than the insiders, and they will almost surely treat you as less than human. No surprise the enduring central theme of Scripture is revelation — uncovering things hidden by others with no good motive, no interest in your welfare.
It is a fundamental tenet of Christian faith there are no secrets. Outsiders may not understand what is going on, but the knowledge is not denied them by design. It’s closed to them because they are closed. The deep counsels of God are wide open. Jesus taught openly, even in the face of His accusers. They dealt secretly because the bold light of day would have brought a hindrance to dark and secret plans. He taught His disciples openly of His impending death, but they were closed to the possibility long prophesied, in part because of the closure brought by Talmudic Pharisees. They closed up a truth they wished to deny, in their fascination with the Western rationalism of Hellenistic intellectual culture. You may recall Gnosticism and its secrets, and Kabbalism with its secrets, are the direct result of elitist assumptions of Greek philosophy. Kabbalism is not Eastern, except in the most superficial sense, any more than the Talmud. Ancient Hebrew faith and culture was a door wide open, but a denial of the popular notions with which men were more comfortable. Truth demands sacrifice, which is the only real barrier.
This is why so many thoughtful Christians are in love with Open Source software. While we may not have the skill to read all the code, we know we could if we tried (if we had the time and interest). This openness calls to us, is a familiar place in our souls. We don’t have to worry about our operating system phoning home to tell on us. We don’t have to worry about someone snooping on our private lives because someone built in a back door without telling us. It’s no secret Windows has such back doors, open to Microsoft when they really want it, and equally open to government snooping. Keep in mind, we Americans have far, far too much trust in government and authority figures, so we say, “What have you got to hide?” To which I counter, “What does MS and the government have to hide, that they must do this secretly?”
Privacy is not the same as secrecy. Human development requires a sense of privacy, or we are not human. Take it away consistently and you create madness. It is this sense of separation and individuation (ego boundaries) which must develop in order to have something to bring to God. We cannot become children before Him, as Christ taught, if we don’t know anything else. Sacrifice is the central requirement of the gospel message (Galatians 2:20). You cannot sacrifice what you don’t have. So privacy against unwarranted intrusion is said to be a human right, but it’s more a human requirement. That could include “warranted” in any sense of the word. A fundamental concept of Scripture requires leadership to be open. Having power is threatening in itself; keeping secrets while in power increases the threat, and distrust is wholly warranted. What you do on behalf of the common good must be open to the common folks, because if you can’t let them see, you have no business ruling. What you do in privacy is somewhat “sacred” before the Lord, because it’s open only to Him, so demands by government to take away your secrecy is blasphemy.
Don’t trust what is not open to you. Humanity is fallen, and sinners will sin. Leaders more so, because they are still fallen, but have more power. You alone in your privacy present no threat to anyone. A person with power over others is always a threat, and more so when secretive. Never, ever trust any human with more power than you. Always trust God.
