Where is the substance??

At the beginning of Chapter 12 of Luke huge crowds of people are coming to see Jesus. To hear his preaching and be ministered to. His disciples are at his side ready to do the deal and he does something interesting. On the way to go do what he was put on earth to do, and lead his disciples into what they were ultimately put on earth do do he turns to them and says at the end of verse 1 "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy." He goes on to say that "what is done in secret will be shouted from rooftops and whatever you do in the dark will be shown in the light."
It's interesting to me that Jesus would choose a time like this when there were no doubt thousands of people eager to hear what he had to say and be ministered to to say something like this to his disciples. In a world today where church is often service, conference, worship service or event driven, we can all take a lesson from the King of Kings. To him it wasn't all about the crowds. His first priority for himself and his disciples was the secret place because he knew that's what mattered most. That's not to say that the church service and events that minster to people are not important because they are. But we've got to understand especially if your role is to minister in those settings, the only way the results of what you do in a corporate setting is going to be fruitful is if what you do in a private setting is real. Because it's what's done in the dark that is seen in the light and it's what's said in secret that's shouted from the rooftops.
Leaven or yeast is an agent that expands the dough in baking. One of the things about yeast is a little goes a long way. It's often said that a little leaven leavens the whole lump. The other thing about yeast is that it results in the impression of substance when there is really a lack of substance. That's so true in the church today where we get up on the stage and pretend to be something we aren't in the private places of our lives. Or go to the service or the prayer meeting and try to be something in front of the crowd that we aren't in the private places of our lives. It's meaningless to be this way because there is no substance behind the show and without spiritual substance the results of your public displays or efforts will be short lived at best.
So let's be people of substance in the private place because weather we realize it or not that's what shines through in the public place and makes a difference in peoples lives! We know it's God who makes the difference in reality but we also know that according to his order he uses men and women like you and I to accomplish his purposes on the earth he gave us dominion over in the beginning. He uses pure vessels to plant lasting seeds into the lives of others!

-Chad