Matthew 23:26-28 “Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”
I Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as a man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”
The Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia defines lavish luxury. It has a lineage that traces back to 1778, with its current structure built in 1913. The hotel’s beautiful façade provides an indulgent escape for the rich and famous, perfect for presidents and prime ministers, and kings and queens. Yet, for several decades during the Cold War, there was more to the Greenbrier than met the eye.
In the late 1950s, the United States Government coordinated with the Greenbrier to build a massive underground bunker beneath a new addition to the resort. This bunker, which could house 1,100 people, was to be the emergency relocation center for Congress in the case that a national emergency would prompt their evacuation from Washington DC. It was ready at all times, and constantly stocked with fresh supplies for over three decades though it was never used. Only those staff members with the most stringent security clearances and the tightest need-to-know rationales ever knew what was going on underneath the surface. It was only after it was revealed by a 1992 news story and subsequently decommissioned that the vast majority in Congress even knew of its existence. The subterranean was cleverly hidden from view, though its existence played a major role in the overall character of the resort.
Sometimes in the lives of Christians, the subterranean is cleverly hidden from view, though its existence plays a major role in the overall character of the individual. God directs that it would not be so. We are to be outwardly and inwardly righteous. While man looks on the outward appearance, God looks on the heart.
PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR INTEGRATED CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY WOULD BRING HONOR TO GOD. May we never allow subterranean subterfuge to hinder our ability to serve the Lord.
