SECURE? SECURITY?

A B4T worker wrote me…

Do you know the thing I feel most judged for in life from other workers? That I don’t have a secure email or an encrypted hard drive.

Just the other day a guy from Africa emailed me and said he knows these two great guys he met at a conference a few weeks back and wanted to connect me with them, but they both had secure emails and didn’t want to communicate with me through Gmail. I said sorry and that’s all I have.

I guess that’s one way to get workers I don’t have time to talk to, to leave me alone!

Every so often I have people say, “Man I can’t email you if it’s not secure…” I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, yet I can smell a worker a mile away. When I see secure email for someone who doesn’t own their own high tech company, I’m sure governments use it as an initial screening tool for workers.

Authenticity and transparency are core values for our network. What are your thoughts on this? If we have to hide something from our friends or our governments are we truly “truth-bearers”? Is our Light pure?

Surely some will point out that the angel told Samuel it was ok not tell the full story when Saul asked him where he went to. And yes, God seems to overlook that fact that Abraham stretched the truth about Sarah being his sister.

Multiple B4T tentmakers, mostly in China and the Middle East, arrived in the country with secure email addresses only to be warned by their bosses that the government was watching them. When encouraged to move to an unsecure email address, their bosses all reported the inquiries about them stopped.  Could be that by being transparent (having easy to track communications with the outside world), they reduced or eliminated the fear the government had of their doing some clandestine work? 

PATRICK LAI and his family have worked in SE Asia for over 37 years. His experience in doing business with Jesus has brought him to understand the meaning of work and worship in the marketplace. He started 14 businesses in four countries, six of which are still operating. Patrick and his wife, May, mentor and coach businesspeople working where there are few or no Christians. Check out Patrick’s latest book, Workship, now available in paperback and e-book.