The Power of Hidden Disciplines
by Keri Wyatt Kent
posted 3/31/2006
 1 of 4
Your effectiveness as a leader depends a lot on what you do when no one is looking—the private spiritual disciplines you engage in to grow closer to Jesus.
Image, Madison Avenue would have us believe, is everything. Every decision we make is colored by the question, Will I look good and appear competent if I do this? We live in a self-promotional culture, taught from childhood to toot our own horns. The only thing we like to be secret about is our failures, be they personal or moral in nature. Christians are not immune from this situation. In fact, we've got it worse. We not only want to be successful and attractive, we also want to have it all together spiritually.
Spiritual image management can decide what church committees we hope to serve on, whom we befriend (and don't), and the issues we choose to share with others about our spiritual life. If someone says, "I've spent hours on my knees" praying about a situation, what are they telling you? Is it possible that their motives are mixed?
Jesus continually reminded His disciples that the first will be last, and the last will be first. If you want to be great, be a servant first. Enter the kingdom as a child. You minister to children: but do you look to them as an example? Jesus said the kingdom of God is not about self-promotion and image management. So why do we still worry about what others think of us, and devote so much time appearing spiritually mature?
We all want to know that we are loved, that we have the approval of others. We want to be noticed, which is not necessarily bad. Within limits, our desire to be loved is healthy. But sometimes, I hate to admit, I end up trying to manipulate other people by acting 'spiritual.'
Jesus had a name for people whose objective in acting spiritual was to influence what others thought of them: hypocrites. Rather than trying to please God, they used their spirituality to gain the approval of their community. Jesus warned that attention would be their only reward (Matthew 6:1-8).
I want people to think of me as spiritually mature, wise, and—oh yeah—humble. Jesus knew all of us would struggle with this and that's why He gave us specific directions on how to win the battle with pride and deepen our connection with Him. The secret, he said, was to cultivate "hiddenness."
The power of hiddenness
We look to spiritual practices or disciplines, such as solitude, prayer, meditation, and fasting, as a means to growth. And they each have the potential to open us to a deeper connection with God. Unfortunately, these same disciplines can also put us in the ditch during our spiritual journey.
It is possible to engage in disciplines without growing any closer to God. For example, it's a good idea to spend an occasional retreat in solitude and prayer. But if we are overly eager to share with others all the spiritual insights we gain, we can fall into the trap of self-promotion and pride.
Usually, our motives are not entirely bad. We may not be entirely prideful, but we may wrestle with it. And wrestling is a good thing to do. A step toward humility comes when we realize that despite our tendency to self-promote, Jesus wants to help us.
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