Proverbs 18:1
Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
he breaks out against all sound judgment.
Have you noticed how much value people are placing on privacy these days? Whether it be “right to privacy” talk or simply church members trying to keep to themselves, privacy is a huge part of our society. The problem is, the love of privacy that our society is embracing is unbiblical and extremely dangerous.
Proverbs 18:1 helps us to see with simple biblical wisdom the danger of the love of privacy. To isolate yourself is to allow yourself only to focus on your desire and to ignore all wise counsel. Eventually, everything you want will seem like it is right, no matter how foolish it really is. When we are alone, we fall prey to our lowest desires.
God simply did not design mankind to be alone. In the garden, God pointed out that it was not good for Adam to be alone. Moses found out from his father-in-law that it was not good for him to try to carry the burden of judging all of Israel on his own. Jesus surrounded himself with disciples. The establishing of the church was God’s wisdom for us to live life-on-life, in true fellowship. None of these things promotes individual privacy.
In my own experience, I have never run across a Christian who fought fervently for privacy who was not either already in sin or soon to fall into deep and destructive sin. Every time I have tried to shield my life from the scrutiny of others, I have been in sin or soon fallen into sin. Simply put, privacy is not godly; it is dangerous.
Look at your life right now. Who has access to your private moments? Who knows you? Who knows what you are struggling with? Who knows what tempts you? Who can speak into your thought processes and raise real, important questions? If nobody is there, you need to connect with brothers and sisters in Christ and truly open yourself to the biblical fellowship that we are designed to live in.
Pastor Travis Peterson 