The Secret ….is No Secret!

By John Boda

Do you want to know a secret? Besides being a great old Beatle song, it is an actual question - do you want to know a secret?

Well, here it is; "The Secret" is really no secret at all! In fact, it is not even new, but has been around for a long, a very long time.

 It goes back to The Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve! There is nothing new or new age about it, but rather it literally is "The Old Lie". It is a new attractive coating on the old lie that the serpent made to Eve when he said,” You won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you’ll see what’s really going on. You’ll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil “ Genesis 3:4-5) The serpent - the devil - Satan - they are one and the very same and alive and well today. It is amazing that his tactics have not changed in thousands of years!

Make no mistake about it, this is the whole thrust of "The Secret" book, philosophy, and movie!  

Also included in "The Secret" teachings is what is known as "The Law of Attraction". This is also the title of a New York Times bestseller by Esther and Jerry Hicks. The subtitle is called; "The Basic Teachings of Abraham".

The "Abraham" in whom they speak of, is NOT the Abraham of the Bible! It actually is "An Entity of beings"! Through the book, this smiling couple proceeds to describe their encounter with these beings, which choose to speak through them. It is always amazing to me that people, and many people, will be interested and gravitate towards this! For those of us who have even a little understanding of the Bible, and its most basic teachings from Jesus and the Apostles, there is not a single doubt as to who these "Spirit being entities" really are - demons! (Yes - demons - at the risk of sounding like some old Baptist preacher! While everything evil or bad is not always directly blamed on demons, if there is channeling, trances and spirit entities speaking through people - it very clearly is!)

As I read through most of "The Law of Attraction", once again, the theme of becoming your own God emerged very clearly.

Don't get sucked in to it! It is a lie!

Yes we can be like God, but not that way! The only way to know God and to become more like God is through his one and only Son - Jesus. He made it clear that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the father except through him. (John 14:6) Radical, narrow, mind-blowing, seemingly intolerant? Yes to all the above! But it would be arrogant, egotistical, and very close minded if it was me, or any other person making such statements. But when it is the Son of God, who claimed to be one and the same as The God who created the universe, then we had better pay attention, if not, we ignore it to our own peril.

This is not intended to be a detailed study about The Secret and the Bible, but rather, a short, to the point, brief, e-notice and warning about this increasingly popular idea. An idea that is being given huge media support by Oprah, Larry King, Ellen and others.

Here is a brief comparison between The Secret, and The Bible with The Message version. Read it and make your own conclusions! (The Secret quotes are in black, and The Bible is in red)

Now compare that with a brief selection taken from The Message Bible:(This translation was completed and done a dozen years ago, before the current "Secret" craze.)

"I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God's great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery, and nowhere else. And we've been shown the mystery! I'm telling you this because I don't want anyone leading you off on some wild-goose chase, after some so-called mysteries, or "the secret"." (Colossians 2:6-10) The Message Bible

Amazed? I didn't insert anything into that text! I will conclude with one more comparison;

“I’m in charge of all this – I run this universe!” (God – Job 41:11) The Message Bible

“He’s (God) the one who runs the earth! He cradles the whole world in his hand! If he decided to hold his breath, every man, woman, and child would die for lack of air.” (Job 34:15) The Message Bible

“You, Master (Jesus) started it all, laid the earth’s foundations, and then crafted the stars in the sky. Earth and sky will wear out, but not you. They become threadbare like an old coat. You’ll fold them up like a worn-out cloak, and lay them away on the shelf. But you’ll stay the same, year after year, you’ll never fade, you’ll never wear out.” (Hebrews 1:10-12) The Message Bible

“And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today – at the latest, tomorrow – we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing.  Instead, make a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that”. As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil. “(James 4:13-16) The Message Bible

Yes, and there is more, a lot more! In fact the very essence of “The Secret” teachings are the very opposite, or antithesis of what we find all through the Bible! It is a study in contrasts and opposites!

Please don’t anyone try to hold the belief that “The Secret” is just another version of Jesus’ teachings!

We are not God! We will never be God! We will never evolve to anywhere close to being God!

Yes – the Bible states that all true believers are one with Jesus; we are children of God, and joint heirs to the kingdom. But there is only one Creator, only one who exists apart from all his creation. The very one, is revealed in scriptures to us as a Trinity of persons: God –the Father, God – the Son, and God – the Spirit. Not three Gods, but one God in three persons. Within those three persons we never find any human being who claims to have discovered some lost secret by which they are divine!

Once again, this is no secret! It is the oldest lie ever spoken or known about on planet earth! Why is it being promoted as some new, cool, current discovery?

(The true Biblical perspective is that only God is divine, and all of us are mortal human beings. Although mortal, we are all extremely important to God! Every person has incredible worth and value as we are all made in God’s image, but only God himself is the Eternal God, and it is God who rules and controls all things.)

Two Examples

Finally, two people come to mind from the pages of scripture, from both the Old and New Testaments. First, think of Herod.

Herod

Herod was the evil king who tried to kill Jesus upon hearing of his birth in Bethlehem, because he considered it a possible threat to his throne and power.  Upon being miss-led by the wise men, he proceeded to murder all the young children under two years old in Bethlehem, hoping that Jesus was one of them.

This same evil king was extremely paranoid, even having many of his family killed fearing threats to his life and power. He was a control freak and power mad person to the max! Obsessed with building huge fortresses like Masada and Herodian which marvel anything built today. These fortresses were physical monuments to his “glory” and power and rule. What ever became of him?

We read of his demise in Acts 12:19-23. All the people considered Herod to be a god, to be divine. Even Herod himself believed such blasphemy. One day, it just became too much, and the one and only God put an end to his poor pitiful life:

“On the day set for their meeting, Herod, robed in pomposity, took his place on the throne and regaled them with a lot of hot air. The people played their part to the hilt and shouted flatteries, “The voice of God! The voice of God!” That was the last straw. God had had enough of Herod’s arrogance and sent an angel to strike him down. Herod had given God no credit for anything. Down he went, rotten to the core, a maggoty old man if there ever was one, he died.” (Acts 12:19-23) The Message Bible

So much for following “The Secret”……and now one more:

Nebuchadnezzar

This ancient king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, could possibly have had an even bigger ego and disease of the divine - delusions than Herod! You can read all about him in the book of Daniel, in the first four chapters. He considered himself divine and very much god, and commanded all the people to worship a huge image that he built. This image was 90 feet high and nine feet wide, made of gold, and set up in the middle of a field. The Bible doesn’t say what it was an image of, but most believe that it was a huge statue of himself – the divine one – Nebuchadnezzar! (This is an easy conclusion to make if you read the entire context)

God actually humbled him, for a while, when after he tried to burn Daniel’s three friends in the furnace, God miraculously saved them by actually standing with them in the fire! But his humility was short lived. Later Daniel actually correctly interprets his dream by God’s power, and Nebuchadnezzar seems grateful to both Daniel and the one true God. Daniel had shown that God was going to humble the king and drive him to become a mad man living like a wild animal until he humbled himself, soon after, Daniel’s interpretation of the dream comes true.

Here is what happened:

“All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Just twelve months later, he was walking on the balcony of the royal palace in Babylon and boasted, “Look at this, Babylon is great! And I built it all by myself, a royal palace adequate to display my honor and glory!” The words were no sooner out of his mouth than a voice out of heaven spoke, “This is the verdict on you King Nebuchadnezzar: Your kingdom is taken from you. You will be driven out of human company and live with the wild animals. You will eat grass like an ox. The sentence is for seven seasons, enough time to learn that the High God rules human kingdoms and puts whomever he wishes in charge.” It happened at once. Nebuchadnezzar was driven out of human company, ate grass like an ox, and was soaked in heaven’s dew. His hair grew like feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a hawk.( Daniel 4:28-33) The Message Bible

But his end is actually a happy ending, and one in which I will conclude with. Hoping, and praying that anyone who gets caught up in “The Secret” will also come to their senses and see it as a lie, and give praise to the one and only God. Here is the conclusion to this story:

“At the end of the seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked to heaven. I was given my mind back and I blessed the high God, thanking and glorifying God who lives forever.

“His sovereign rule lasts and lasts, his kingdom never declines and falls. Life on earth doesn’t add up to much, but God’s heavenly army keeps everything going. No one can interrupt his work; no one can call his rule into question.

At the same time that I was given my mind back, I was also given back my majesty and splendors, making my kingdom shine. All the leaders and important people came looking for me. I was reestablished as king in my kingdom and became greater than ever. And that’s why I’m singing – I, Nebuchadnezzar, singing and praising the King of Heaven!

Everything he does is right, and he does it the right way. He knows how to turn a proud person into a humble man or woman.” (Daniel 4:34-37) The Message Bible

This proud king, who thought that he was a divine god, was humbled and got completely turned around! Notice, God restored unto him his kingdom, and made him even greater than he was! But now, he gave God the glory and realized that he was only a human being, and any blessing, honor, and privilege, was due to God granting it to him.

My sincere prayer and hope is for all who have similar divine delusions will also come to their right minds and this same perspective. Hopefully, they will not have to endure such a harsh trial and lesson in order to get to that point!

Grace & peace to you, John Boda