By now everyone is aware of the alleged tirades which Mel Gibson launched against his ex-lover. The recorded rants – if they are legitimate – do not paint a very flattering picture of the actor. Indeed, they depict someone out of control and slipping toward the edge.
It is not my intention to pick on Gibson here. Probably on any given day there are tens of thousands of similar outbursts made by warring couples. This one just happened to be caught on tape, that’s all. Gibson would have hoped that this was just between himself and his ex, and not the whole world.
The truth is on most occasions the real us is kept under wraps. The way we really are, when no one else is around, is rarely caught on tape. Our public personas are often quite different to our private ones. Often only a few very close people know what we are really like. And we prefer it that way.
Society would probably split apart if we were all aware of one another’s darker, private sides. Some things really are better kept private. But those who think they can live double lives are only fooling themselves. Scripture makes it clear that our private world will one day be made public.
The Bible informs us that all our words and all our actions are known by at least one person: God himself. Nothing escapes his attention, and every thought, every word and every action of ours is fully and intimately exposed to an all-knowing God.
And even more frightening, one day we will give an account of our words and actions. There is a divine video recorder taping our every action, a divine audio microphone recording our every word, and on top of all that a divine receptacle holding our every thought.
One day we will all stand before God and give an account of all this. Everything once hidden will be revealed. Everything we thought we got away with will be exposed. Every dark secret will be fully brought into the open. Consider a number of passages in this regard:
“You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence” (Psalm 90:8).
“O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar” (Psalm 139:1-2).
“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve” (Jer 17:10).
“‘Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the LORD. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the LORD” (Jer 23:24).
“Your Father, who sees what is done in secret…” (Matt 6:4).
“But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt 12:36-37).
“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs” (Luke 12:2-3).
“This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ” (Romans 2:16).
“He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts” (1 Cor 4:5).
These and other passages make it clear that our thoughts, words and deeds are all noticed and noted by God, and we will one day have to give an account for them. The good news of the Gospel is that while our acts and words and inner thoughts condemn us, Jesus has made a way for us to become right with God.
So on the one hand it is a frightening thing indeed to know that all our inner secrets and everything we thought no one noticed will one day be flung back at us. On the other hand, we have a remedy in the work of Christ to avoid the judgment we in fact deserve.
It seems that Mel Gibson has been caught out. Other high flyers have also been caught recently, such as Tiger Woods. The lesson we can all take out of this is nicely encapsulated in the words of Moses: “Make sure your sins will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).
Thus the importance of getting right with God, and with his help, living lives of integrity. In the light of all this, we should live each day as if we were in the Truman Show, with hundreds of cameras focused on our every move. God knows our every thought and action, and we need to live in the light of that truth.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed.”
(Note: Scripture actually speaks of a number of judgments, and another article would be required to fully explore this. Suffice it to say that the believer too will face judgment one day, not for his salvation, but based on his works and service, or lack thereof. See 1 Cor. 3:12-15 and Romans 14:10-12 for example. Thus both believers and unbelievers need to take seriously their works and thoughts.)
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