“Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No.” 2 Corinthians 1:17-18 ESV
Reflection: are you honest in all you say and do, or do you sometimes have a hidden agenda?
Let’s think about the following scenario for a moment. Say you need a new car (ok, . You have saved some money by driving an old car for a while, and you are finally ready to get something new. You have narrowed your options down to 2 type cars, and with a maximum amount you can spend. So you are excited to start shopping for this new car and decide to stop by the first dealer. A salesman approaches you, starts asking you some questions. Small talk first, then about what you are looking for. Seems like a very nice guy, honest in a way. As you find the first car on your shortlist, the salesman tells you all about it, one owner, low mileage, etc., and that they have a special financing they are running. This car is exactly what you had in mind, and with the financing special you can afford it. But, you also want to also look at a couple more dealers to make sure. After a few hours of looking around, you return to the first one again, and tell the salesman you want to make an offer on the car. You go the office to write that up. But when the salesman comes back, you find out that in order to get the special financing, you also have to purchase extended warranty, which increases the price significantly even compared with the other dealers. Suddenly it is not such a good deal. The salesman never told you about that, so you feel in a way betrayed.
Clearly, the salesman was being deceptive, trying to make the sale. He should have told you about this upfront. And one thing is to learn about deceptive sales practices from a car dealer, it is a whole other thing being deceived by someone you trusted. In fact, it can be very hurtful to learn that someone you were close to has had a hidden agenda, doing things behind your back. They say one thing, or act in one way to make you believe something, but end up doing something else. And when you find out the truth, their true intentions, it breaks your heart, and that trust you thought you had with them. Now, it is not as if the trust cannot be rebuilt again. It can, but it takes forgiveness, a lot of time, and proof points of being “worthy” of trust again.
Paul writes to the Corinthians “For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.” 2 Corinthians 1:12 ESV. What earthly wisdom is he referring to here, you might say? If we think back at the car salesman, he didn’t tell about the extra fee because he knew that might deter you from coming back. He was trying to make the sale. And while you can argue that this is what they often do in that business, it still was deceptive. Earthly wisdom to make more money. And Paul is saying here that they “behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity”, and “by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.” Towards the Corinthian church.
No hidden agenda.
James wrote about being double minded, saying one thing and doing another. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-8 ESV.
Having a hidden agenda is like having two things going on at the same time. It is simply evil. It requires a split tongue, a snake’s tongue, a tongue like the devil, who is the deceiver, the father of lies. Jesus simply said “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” Matthew 5:37 ESV. Whether we are selling cars, or interacting with brothers and sisters who trust us, let us strive for purity in all our words and actions, with “simplicity and godly sincerity”.