47: Behind the Scenes

When Brad and I were house hunting several years ago, the main thing that sold us on the house we ended up buying actually had nothing to do with the house at all. We just loved the big, beautiful oak trees in the middle of the front yard. We loved the landscape they helped create and the thought of having such old, established trees right outside our front door was a good one.

However, it was quickly brought to our attention that we should probably know what type of oak trees were in our front yard. Were they laurel oak? Water oak? Live oak? At the time, we had no idea and didn’t quite understand why it mattered anyway. 

It turns out that while they might appear very similar, the biggest and most important difference between oak tree species is found in their root systems. Many types of oak trees shoot up pretty quickly and appear healthy and beautiful. But because their root system is underdeveloped, the wood is thin and hollow. This often leads to wood rot and decay, making them more vulnerable to high winds or the effects of too much rain. So the water oak, for instance, only lives 30-50 years.

Other species, like the live oak, have an elaborate root system. Yes, their growth is slow; it takes time for them to sprout up and grow tall. But their root system grows far and wide, and can even connect to the root systems of other live oaks nearby. It acts as an anchor for the tree, and the tree is able to grow strong and sturdy, living for hundreds and hundreds of years. 

So, it was important to know the difference. And we are lucky to have several live oaks in our yard. But in figuring this out, it was interesting for me to realize that the most significant part of these huge trees is actually what’s hidden beneath the ground. The quality of the root system is what upholds the tree. And we can’t even see it.

For awhile now, I’ve found myself drawn to paying better attention to what goes on behind the scenes in my own life. It can be easy to focus on how things appear and feel this pressure to live life on full display. I mean, if we didn’t post about it on social media, did it even happen? And if we didn’t get a thank you or any sort of acknowledgement, was it even worth it? We put so much time and energy into making it seem like we have it all together, making it seem like we’re making an impact, and in doing so, we often neglect the very things that actually make the biggest difference. In all of that, I’m learning that there is value in what goes unseen. 

In the middle of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, he shares about this very thing. Throughout Matthew 6, Jesus says these words,

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you…

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

These passages make it clear that what is done in secret, matters to God. But I do want to make a couple of distinctions here. First, this doesn’t mean that our faith is meant to be practiced in private, in isolation. We are called to community and we are better together. But while faith isn't meant to be a private affair, it also isn’t meant to be a performance. And I think that is what Jesus is naming here.

Throughout the passage, Jesus uses the term, “hypocrite” which literally means, play actor. He is trying to teach that the motivation behind the things we do shouldn’t be to win approval, affirmation, or applause from others. And our motivation also shouldn’t be influenced by potential disapproval and discouragement from others. Instead, our aim should simply be being with God, making ourselves available to participate in God’s Kingdom work. 

Second, Jesus isn’t saying that it’s wrong for others to see what we do. I mean, after all, we are also called to be cities on a hill, reminders of Jesus in the world around us. Plus, if we are living our lives in community, it’s going to be pretty difficult to completely hide away. But Jesus says, again, that what is seen shouldn’t be performed; it should be the overflow, the fruit of simply being with God.

In The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard puts it this way: 

“The kind of people who have been so transformed by their daily walk with God that good deeds naturally flow from their character are precisely the kind of people whose left hand would not notice what their right hand is doing… What they do they do naturally, often automatically, simply because of what they are pervasively and internally. These are people who do not have to invest a lot of reflection in doing good for others. Their deeds are ‘in secret’ no matter who is watching, for they are absorbed in love of God and of those around them.They hardly notice their own deed, and rarely remember it.” 

In Psalms 51 and 139, the psalmist writes about being formed “in the secret place.” Now, in the context of the psalms, the author is describing being formed before birth, but I think the purpose of the secret place still remains throughout our lives. Like a secret garden where new life is cultivated, these secret places - the places where God meets us behind the scenes - continue to form us. The secret places sustain us. They cultivate in us what we could never manufacture on our own. And when we visit those hidden spaces regularly, we become the very people God intended us to be.

The live oaks in our front yard really aren’t that old in the grand scheme of things. But I’ve been around several much older, more mature live oaks, ones that have been around for a good long while, and it’s interesting to notice the direction of their growth. As these trees have grown, they’ve grown wider, not taller. Out, not up. They grow like an intricate dance; as their branches twist and turn, many bend down low, some even touching the ground. That image might feel familiar because it resembles the way of Jesus. For the live oaks, it’s made possible through a strong root system hidden beneath the ground. And for followers of Jesus, this posture is made possible through the work of the Spirit in the unseen spaces in our lives, when we regularly show up to the secret places. As we read in Colossians 3, it’s a life hidden in Christ. A life that remembers this simple line from the classic book, The Little Prince: “what’s essential is invisible to the eye.”

Today, if you’re burned out by living a life on full display, remember, God sees what is done in secret. God is at work behind-the-scenes, underground, in hidden spaces. May we notice the holy in the unseen and pursue the work of the Spirit in those secret places, trusting that the good will overflow in the world around us.