Spies Among Us

I read an interesting news story the other day. A British woman who had lived a quiet life of solitude, had recently passed away at the respectable age of 99. She was a pensioner, who was said to be rather shy and reclusive. The neighbors didn’t seem to know much about her, except that she was very nice but kept to herself. There is nothing particularly remarkable about that. For years, rumors had circulated that she had been a spy once upon a time, but no one seemed to know exactly how that rumor got started.

Amazingly, a short time after she passed away, the rumors were confirmed! While renovators were remodeling her flat, they uncovered a weapons cache, including a Bren sub-machine gun. Documents were also uncovered, confirming her role in the British Intelligence Services. She had been an agent during the early years following World War 2. In true “spy” fashion, the British government would only confirm she had once worked for British Intelligence, but would say nothing more.

This story reminded me, as Christians, how many of us live our faith the same way. We avoid sharing our faith with co-workers and neighbors. We are nice, but we keep to ourselves. Except for those closest to us, most people we interact with have no idea we are even Christians. We quietly live our faith undercover, like spies for Jesus. After all, the world would prefer we keep it that way, right? They tell us, our faith should be private. If we talk too much about it, then we are thought to be extremists, nuts, or worse.

Jesus told his disciples in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” We are to live our lives as ambassadors for Christ, not as spies for the Kingdom. I should never be afraid to boldly step out in His name, proclaiming the Truth and sharing what he has done in my life.