The Secret

Have you seen the ads for the new Ben & Jerry's product, Pint Slices?

Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream

In the history of the world, pretty much everything that's happens today has already happened in some way in the past. There isn't much new under the sun. The day is rare that a revolutionary idea comes along, the likes of which we haven't seen before. Ben & Jerry's has broken that mold - the Pint Slices seem like one of the greatest inventions in recent history. These things look like a dessert game-changer. It's all the explosion of Ben & Jerry's ice cream, IN HANDHELD FORM!

Tired of not being able to eat a pint of ice cream while driving? PINT SLICES

Tired of not being able to hold ice cream directly in your hand? PINT SLICES

Tired of not having sliced ice cream chunks to eat? YOU GUESSED IT, PINT SLICES!

This is truly a revolutionary dessert idea. 

Every once in a while, an idea comes to the forefront of the American culture in the form of a self-help book that promises to be revolutionary. The main idea of the book commonly promises to be new or never before understood knowledge, that if the readers can follow the author in "tapping into," they can have the life of their dreams.

In 2006, a book was published called, The Secret.  In this bio from the website for The Secret, we see the promise that there is "special wisdom" to be imparted. This "special wisdom" has only been known by a few of the world's leaders. We love 'secret knowledge' and we love to be 'in on the action,' and that is just what The Secret promises us. 

These lines at the end are so important. Above all else, this 'revolutionary' idea wants to teach us how to harness this secret wisdom to bring us into health, wealth, success, and great relationships. I certainly want all those things, but how do I get them?

The last line of the bio makes it clear, the power is in my hands if I simply apply the techniques found within the pages of The Secret.
*I don't want this post to become to snarky or dismissive, however. There are millions of people who have given this book a chance. Deep down, we are all hoping for things that can change our lives for the better, and we are certainly hoping to for better health, wealth, success, and relationships. 

What does The Secret really teach?

The Secret was famously mocked on the TV show "Family Guy," when the dog Brian wrote a self-help book titled: Wish It, Want It, Do It. Satire as this was, it actually touches on the main teaching style of the book.

The Secret teaches an ASK - BELIEVE - RECEIVE mentality that is carried along by the practices of gratitude and visualization.

The practice of these techniques goes like this:

I want a GMC Sierra truck. I begin putting those signals out into the universe, communicating my ask - that I want a GMC Sierra. While I continue asking, I start to visualize the GMC truck in my driveway. I start to picture myself driving it, taking road trips with it, and I even begin leaving an open space in my driveway for the truck. I believe that I am going to receive this truck from the universe because I have communicated it. I practice gratitude for the fact that I am going to be receiving this truck, by making sure each day that I am thankful for the blessings I do have. Then, one day the opportunity arises and I get my GMC Sierra.

I have asked, believed, received, practiced gratitude and visualization. In doing these things, I have practiced the secret wisdom that only a few of the worlds greatest leaders have known. I have found the key to facing and conquering all of life's struggles, be they relational, financial, or physical.

 Is it truly secret wisdom, is it anything new?

Scholar John Stackhouse says of The Secret, "This way of viewing things has a long history in America. Indeed, Yale professor Harold Bloom calls gnosticism the quintessential American religion. We can master the world by dint of positive thinking and applied effort. Nothing finally will stand in our way. Ralph Waldo Emerson was openly atheistic about it. Mary Baker Eddy gave us “Christian Science.” Norman Vincent Peale domesticated it for Christian consumption as “positive thinking.” And Robert Schuller repackaged it as “possibility thinking” in our own day." [1]

Positive thinking and applied effort is a very common idea in America, and even among the church in the so-called prosperity gospel. The Secret isn't in fact some new or revolutionary idea, it is simply a repackaging of an old idea about the power of positive thinking. Applying the principles of The Secret is simply applying the principles of an idea system that has been purposed and repurposed in the American landscape time and time again.

Does The Secret work?

To consider that question, let's consider the contrary. Bestselling author and political activist Barbara Ehrenreich says about when the practices in the book fail.

“The flip side of positivity is… a harsh insistence on personal responsibility: if your business fails or your job is eliminated, it must be because you didn’t try hard enough, didn’t believe firmly enough in the inevitability of your success,” writes Ehrenreich. “As the economy has brought more layoffs and financial turbulence to the middle class, the promoters of positive thinking have increasingly emphasized this negative judgment: to be disappointed, resentful, or downcast is to be a ‘victim’ and a ‘whiner.’” [2]

Looking at the downside of positivity and applied effort thought reveals the emphasis on personal responsibility. This emphasis on personal responsibility can cripple someone who deals with a sudden and unexpected health or financial issue. There are occurrences in life that are sometimes out of our control, and it is hard to simply 'positive think' our way out of them. To fail in this way means you have personally failed. If I never got my GMC Sierra truck, it was my fault. I didn't ask hard enough, believe hard enough, and I have to suffer the consequences. I should have visualized better.

Those are some critic's takes on the teachings and approach of The Secret. Does this approach hold up to the very real and sometimes turbulent circumstances of life? Does this approach help someone dealing with a health crisis in the family? Does this approach help someone facing a layoff at work? What about the child of a divorce, are they helped by this approach? I don't mean these questions to come off as an attack on the book, but they simply must be considered.

If that's not "the secret" to facing hardship, what is?

In his letter to the church in Philippi, the Apostle Paul is talking to them about how they have supported his ministry with financial giving. In discussing the financial gift Paul touches on what he believes to be the secret that he has learned in his years in service of the gospel.

I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:10-13 ESV)

Paul says...

"I have learned in whatever situation...to be content"
"I know how to be brought low...how to abound"
"In any and every circumstance"
"I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need"

Paul has learned the secret! What is the secret?

"I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13 ESV)

What does that even mean?! How is that the secret?! And how did Paul learn it?

Pastor Warren Wiersbe helps us understand in his book, Be Joyful:

"The verb learned means "learned by experience." Paul's spiritual contentment was not something that he had immediately after he was saved. He had to go through many difficult experiences of life in order to learn how to be content. The word content actually means "contained." It is a description of the man whose resources are within him so that he does not have to depend on substitutes without. The Greek word means "self-sufficient" and was a favorite word of the stoic philosophers. But the Christian is not sufficient in himself, he is sufficient in Christ. Because Christ lives in us, we are adequate for the demands of life." 
(Be Joyful, p. 142) 

The secret Paul learned was how to know the power of Jesus within himself. Paul learned that as a man, he was insufficient to handle the feasts and hardships of life. He learned that with Christ dwelling inside of him, and giving him strength, he could face anything. If you've studied the life of the Apostle Paul, you know he certainly faced about everything you can. He was beaten, mocked, ridiculed, persecuted, imprisoned, afflicted with health problems, and shipwrecked among other hardships. He learned in all those circumstances that the strength for facing those hardships wasn't to be found within himself, but within his dependence on Jesus.

How can we trust Jesus to strengthen us?

If the secret to facing the highs and lows life is to have Jesus with you and strengthening you, how can we trust Jesus to be faithful through that?

Paul highlights God's love for us through Christ in Romans chapter 8:

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”


No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:31-39 ESV)

If you have faith in Jesus, you can know that God is for you. Paul tells us that God didn't spare Jesus, but gave him up for us. Jesus went to the cross so that your sin could be forgiven and that you could have God on your side as a loving Father. Jesus was strong when we were weak, and he still gives us strength today. Jesus will be faithful because he already has been. He showed his faithfulness in offering himself for our sake. He died for our sins, and lives to intercede for us.

Paul reminds us that tribulation, famine, and even death cannot separate us from the love of Christ. Jesus himself has promised to never leave us or forsake us. The secret to life isn't to have better circumstances. The secret to life is to have someone who helps you face whatever your circumstances may be. Jesus gives Christians the strength to face health or illness, riches or poverty, pain and loss - because he experienced all those things in his flesh.

Jesus also gives us his body, the church. Having our gospel friendships, people to rally around our souls and lift us when we are down are a gift from God to keep us in His love. Not only do we have Christ as our head to look out for us, but we have his body, our believing friends to lift us and help us.

Having God helps us handle the hardships of life. That's the secret.

Have you trusted God to be faithful to help you in all of life's highs and lows?

-----------

[1] http://www.johnstackhouse.com/2007/02/21/oprahs-secret-new-old-good-bad/

[2] http://religiondispatches.org/barbara-ehrenreichs-ibright-sidedi-explores-the-dark-side-of-positive-thinking/