Not much of a secret

Do you want to know the key to unlocking the unlimited power of the universe? Do you want to know how to be healthy and even reverse the signs of aging? Do you want to know how to make your dreams come true?

The answer to all these questions is contained in a thin but expensive little book called The Secret. The answer begins by understanding that God/the Universe is a cross between Aladdin’s lamp and a giant vending machine. Those who possess the secret to unlocking its floodgates can ask for anything and it will be granted. The keys are an unwavering belief that dreams can and will become reality, and knowing how to correctly manipulate God/the Universe.

The Secret claims this is the correct interpretation of Jesus’ words: “Ask and it will be given to you . . .” (Matthew 7:7).

Along with breathless celebrity accolades, there are critics. One entitled his review “Are People Really That Stupid?” If book sales are a measure of this “stupidity,” then the answer must be yes. Four million copies have already been sold.

There are, of course, no secrets in The Secret. It’s just the latest in the well-worn “how to be successful” genre that’s made some authors very wealthy.

In the early 90s, a book called The Celestine Prophecy sold 20 million copies. When I was in university a book called Jonathan Livingston Seagull took bestseller lists by storm and eventually sold 40 million copies. In the 50s it was a book called Think and Grow Rich! that sold 30 million copies.

The Secret is an easy target for scorn – perhaps too easy. Millions of readers can be wrong, but something in it touches the soul of humanity. We’d do well to take a few moments to think about it.

As Christians, we have reason to be thoughtful in our critiques. It was, after all, not that long ago that The Prayer of Jabez was sweeping the Christian world. Its premise, like that of The Secret, is that a dogged belief in one’s dreams combined with correctly worded petitions unlocks extravagant blessings.

In this we’re no different than the “pagans” who buy millions of copies of The Secret. Like them our hearts are warmed by testimonials of victory over sadness, disease, and poverty. Like them we toss reason aside when the promise of the miraculous rolls into town. Christians are no less (but probably no more) susceptible to the claims that a cure for cancer is available in a clinic in Mexico, or in the prayer cloth of a TV preacher, or in a little book.

It’s not just the dying and desperate who line the pockets of those who claim that miracles are promised to the faithful. What can it hurt, we ask ourselves, if we buy a book or DVD for $20? Who knows what might fall from heaven if we follow a few harmless steps? Doesn’t Jesus tell us to pray and believe? Doesn’t he say, “Ask and it will be given to you?”

Indeed he does.

But Christians quickly recoil at the insinuation that we can manipulate God. This is where we draw our line in the sand. Surely this separates us from those who roll God and the Universe into one package. We petition God our Father, not the faceless Universe. We don’t try to manipulate God.

Or do we?

Manipulating those around us to get what we want is as basic to our humanity as the air we breathe. We learn to manipulate before we learn to speak, when we discover that a cry that simulates pain can be very effective. Getting older, our techniques advance and become more nuanced. We chuckle at the transparent manipulation attempts of children, but only the foolish believe these diminish with age.

Do we really think that we, manipulative humans that we are, don’t try to control God?

The Secret, with its crass materialism and explicit techniques for achieving prosperity, should be a reminder to Christians, not of how foolish people are without the benefit of a solid Christian foundation, but of how pervasive humanity really is.

As the reality of our humanity sinks in, we’re reminded to be thankful that we serve a God who, as a loving parent of self-centred children, is not surprised or horrified when we try to manipulate him to our own ends. Instead, he hears our requests and responds to them with love and a wisdom that even the best human parent cannot imagine.

And, yes, we are to ask!

James Toews is pastor at Neighbourhood Church, Nanaimo, B.C.