Pssst....wanna know a secret?

The dictionary defines the word secret as;

Kept hidden from knowledge or view; concealed.

Dependably discreet.

Operating in a hidden or confidential manner: a secret agent.

Not expressed; inward: their secret thoughts.

There are less common meanings for the word, but to be party to a secret can be a delicious feeling. To be the one who knows something that only one or two other people know somehow seems to elevates us (at least in our own minds). 

Many secrets grow out of paranoia… Yuri Gagarin is famous as the first man to fly in space, aboard Vostok-1. After the end of the Cold War some of Russia’s cosmonauts revealed the pressures under which he operated. Gagarin’s rocket ship was armed with an explosive charge which could be detonated by a radio signal. The Russians wanted to ensure Gagarin wouldn’t defect by re-entering earth’s atmosphere anywhere but over Soviet territory. So the explosives were rigged. The charges could only be disarmed and the rocket’s re-entry system activated by entering a six digit code into the onboard system. Gagarin was given the first three numbers. The last three were to be transmitted to him just before his retrorockets were to fire.

But where the Soviet government didn’t trust its cosmonauts, the head of their space program, Chief Designer Korolev did. Just before the rocket was launched Korolev pulled Gagarin aside and told him the last three numbers. Korolev had faith in Gagarin, a faith for which he was prepared to lay his job and his future on the line by whispering those secret numbers. And Gagarin didn’t let him down.

Some people are better at keeping secrets than others… The Duke of Wellington is best remembered as the general who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. During his earlier service in India, Wellington was in charge of negotiations after the battle of Assaye. The emissary of an Indian ruler, anxious to know what territories would be ceded to his master, tried in various ways to get the information. Finally, he offered Wellington a large sum of money. "Can you keep a secret?" asked Wellington. "Yes, indeed," the man said eagerly. "So can I," replied Wellington.

How long a secret remains a secret depends on many things… The formulas for making Coca-Cola and Kentucky Fried Chicken are still well kept secrets. How to make a hydrogen bomb is almost common knowledge…just ask Google. 

The opposite of a secret is gossip. Much of the western media thrives on gossip, often disguised by those pious words… “The public's right to know”

Throughout Scripture gossip is condemned. “Don't pass on malicious gossip. Don't link up with a wicked person and give corrupt testimony.” Exodus 23:1 The Message.

You shall not raise a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. Exodus 23:1 MKJV

The Hebrew words used for “false report” are shav and shay-mah and together they mean a destructive or morally deceptive rumor or announcement.

St. Paul preaching in Athens (Raphael 1515)

Paul discovered, on one of his journeys, where the best place in the ancient world to hear gossip (which he loathed, and constantly warned believers to refrain from spreading) was. For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing. Acts 17:21 This was of course Areopagus Street in Athens, which contained the temple of Zeus (Acts 17)

The Book of Proverbs contain much wisdom, a real pearl for all believers is… The gossip of bad people gets them in trouble; the conversation of good people keeps them out of it. Proverbs 12:13 The Message.

There is no place for gossip in any believer’s life. Especially damaging is “gossip” that is relayed by way of prayer. You may have heard such prayers… when a salacious bit of news is “passed on” as a matter for prayer, as in we should pray for Jenny and her unexpected baby, or pray for Paul for his court appearance tomorrow.  However gossip is spread, it’s destructive and is a weapon of the dark lord!

One who brings gossip betrays a confidence, but one who is of a trustworthy spirit is one who keeps a secret. Proverbs 11:13