Hidden But Not Secret

We are not a secret society, but a mystery society. That is, if we use common English translations of the Bible to guide our terminology, then what we promote is a mystery difficult for outsiders to grasp. It is certainly not hidden by intention.

In fact, we would much rather the whole world participate; the more the merrier. This is what we were made for, our best hope in this life. Yet we have seen with our own eyes just how hard it is to bring the mind to a place where it can surrender to its natural superior, the heart. It took us long enough to get here ourselves.

Secret societies build barriers and use some consciously constructed mechanism to deny access to outsiders. Many of them use code language to discuss their common affairs. There is some sense of elite superiority over those denied access. We did not create any boundaries; we discovered them in the process of crossing. We fall on our faces once inside because we can’t get inside without coming to a realization of just how unworthy we are. And the joy is based on immeasurable gratitude and relief, not exclusivity.

We feel so powerless to help others. Paradoxically, we are driven by the confidence that God insists we get the word out, and the calm assurance He will work through us. But it’s not the glib assurance at seeing them enter in droves. We see a tiny trickle and rejoice over each one.

For all of this we cannot avoid the appearance of being closed simply because access is very highly restricted. It’s just that the restriction is the hand of God, nothing in our hands. And how could we begin making accommodations to this new reality without changing the words we use? So it sounds like secretive code language. We aren’t speaking the language of minds, but the language of hearts. Even when we explain it, we find ourselves forced to use terminology that makes it sound suspicious to those who can’t see the truth.

Should some government authority take an interest, it would only be that people who join us are impossible to govern on the terms the authority desires. We make no promises that our choices won’t contradict government edicts, but we find it highly unlikely that officials would notice. Still, it is a certainty that we will discern and act on a loyalty that can rest in no human entity. That’s the undefined threat to human authority. Worse, our undefined threat has been known to spread “like cancer” at times. We most certainly make a conscious effort to get more people to join us, and to get more of those who join more thoroughly alienated from human concerns.

We don’t fight government so much as lack enthusiasm for the demands of officials. At best we play along, and we cannot possibly hide our cynicism. The bottom line is that we don’t care about their bottom line.

Our biggest headache at this point is not secular government concerns, but the unacknowledged politics of religion. Our presumed allies are often anything but. Some of us were never a part of their work, so they pay little attention to us. However, those of us who left that system are viewed as traitors. We know too much about what we left behind, and that makes us a threat. While I do get some respect and fellowship from those who understand from within the religious establishment, organizational leadership is typically the biggest hassle I face.

On a human level, I can understand that. What we are discussing are matters of eternal importance. Get it wrong and you “burn in Hell.” Tell it wrong and others may join you there. Offer something too enticing and those on the margins will be “lost” before they can be “saved.” Yes, I understand their concerns all too well.

So when it comes down to such discussion, I ask: “And what if you are wrong about all of this?” Insofar as I get an answer, it’s usually along the lines that they must follow their convictions. Of course, so do I. But then they have the resources to marshal against me and have done so more than once. About all I can do is simply stay out of their reach. To the degree they don’t understand what we do, it’s not that hard most of the time. Coming under their authority is currently voluntary. My choice doesn’t have to be yours, though. If you can still remain within that system and serve the Lord, that’s a good thing.

Each of us comes into this with our individual experiences. We belong together because no one of us has the whole bag of marbles. We are family, hard-wired for interdependence. Modern secular government knows that’s a threat to their power, even if they never say anything directly about it. Government’s full intent is to render the individual isolated and powerless by creating a false sense of belonging to structures that offer only the illusion of power. You know the saying: If it really makes a difference, it’s illegal. Our Creator made very real power to rest in the hands of family, and of all the family types, the very most powerful is the covenant family. It is so very powerful because it is so very fragile in human terms. It rests entirely upon some higher power.

We associate and fellowship in the Spirit precisely when there are so few human reasons to do so. Would any of us have found each other had we not been searching for something much higher? The power of God is manifest most gloriously beyond the limits of human power.

We have little use for the encryption of technology because neither technology nor human nature is able to grasp what we do. It’s hidden on their end, not on ours.