Books like Master of Disguise or those by Tom Clancy and John La Carre glorify being a spy. I can imagine the intellectual challenge, the pride from being in a group that is set apart from normal society, and the fulfillment one feels in doing a special mission for the greater good of a nation — or even for the whole of humanity.
Can’t these same intangible benefits from being a spy also be obtained by being an agent for Christ? I live a double-life. One is rooted in this world, the other is rooted in the spiritual. I am a company-man, a family man, a consumer; I’m also a priest, a prophet and a king. Theology is an intellectual challenge. Awareness to the near-occasions of sin is like doing reconnaissance in enemy territory. Christians, by definition, are a people who are set apart. We are the people of God, on a special mission to save more souls. Priests are like intelligence officers. Parishioners are like the supporting bureaucracy, and the proselytizing are like the agents in the field. Satan and his demons are like the Soviets and the KGB. The media and institutions that promote the “culture of death” are like the Soviet-bloc and other Communist countries.
Even the risks are similar: martyrdom; being compromised by sin; double-agents in the priesthood; counter-intelligence that leads Christians to fight the wrong battles.
Reading Master of Disguise was great escape. I praise you, God, for helping me find an analogy to living the Christian life.