Sermon On Flying Beneath The Radar

Dallas Willard, an American philosopher once remarked: “The core of the person is what he or she loves, and that is bound up with what they worship - that insight recalibrates the radar for cultural analysis. The rituals and practices that form our loves spill out well beyond the sanctuary. Many secular liturgies are trying to get us to love some other kingdom and some other gods.” Proverbs 27:12 reminds us: “The prudent sees danger and hides himself, but the simple go on and suffer for it.”

Radar is defined as a system for detecting the presence, direction, distance, and speed of aircraft, ships, and other commodities, by sending out pulses of radio waves which are reflected off the intercepted object back to the source. It was originally initiated through experiments by Heinrich Hertz in the late 19th century which divulged that radio waves were always reflected by metallic objects. It also encapsulates a person’s amplitude for intuitive perception.

Flying beneath the radar has two cardinal connotations in life. It is a universal idiom that unleashes the general intention of a surreptitious endeavor to remain unnoticed or undetected to aid victory, or it can identify a personal preference to become inconspicuous in many daily exploits, whether they be important, inconsequential, good or bad. It includes specific actions or deviations surrounding prominent elements of secrecy, uncharted movements or measures that may create a significant impact on an indefinable or indiscriminate force. The terminology relates back to World War II, when opposing pilots would fly low, beneath the scope and range of each instrument, in order to avoid radar detection and the imminence of their approach.

In our Godly life, some might apply the same strategy of flying beneath the radar if they have certain doubts, religious misbeliefs or other personal preferences. They feel that if they adopt a covert approach in life, that God will not notice any misdeeds or sins, and require any form of accountability on the day of judgment. However, Hebrews 4:13 warns: “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Camouflaged evil intent is not favored by God. Proverbs 6:16-19 reminds us: “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” However, it does have advantageous benefits in times of conflict.

In many circumstances, if evil intent previously lurked, God is always willing to show mercy for true repentance. 2 Kings 13: 1-9 reminds us; “In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. Then Jehoahaz sought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. (Therefore the Lord gave Israel a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in their homes as formerly. Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin, but walked in them; and the Asherah also remained in Samaria.) For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place.”

Albeit generally bad, the strategy of flying beneath the radar can also be considered good. It markedly depends on the situational context. At work, it may simply mean a desire for unsung praise. The work performed by an individual may be of a consistently high standard or value, but recognition or true worth is never sought. This factor often identifies persons of a self-confident or self-assured nature, whose assuage does not require a continual boost to ascertain the pleasures and rewards of self-satisfaction, or egoism. Jesus Christ was one such person. He never sought such honor for Himself. He allowed others to formulate their own conclusions as to His merit and worth. Matthew 6:1-4 reminds us: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”