“Be careful
not to do your “acts of righteousness” before men, to be seen by them. If you
do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the
needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues
and on the streets, to be honoured by men. I tell you the truth, they have
received their reward in full. 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. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6:1-4)
Does this passage mean we are never
to talk or testify about the things
the Lord has done through us? Does giving
to the needy always have to be secretive, resulting in guilt feelings if
someone finds out? Is the “submarine” Christian lifestyle—“Christianity is a
private thing”—what God intended faith to be?
In establishing our Christian
lifestyle, we must look at the message from the Bible as a whole, a unit. If we
look at our passage, we see that what Jesus is most concerned about is, once
again, attitude. What is the motivation behind our righteousness and our
giving? Is it to impress those around us, to draw attention to us, make us the
focal point? Or is it to give glory to the Lord? Be careful not to do your
“acts of righteousness” in front of others in order to be seen by them. Don’t announce your good works with
a trumpet.
The key in this passage is who gets
the glory. If someone is helped, he has to thank somebody. He has to praise
someone’s goodness. The way you go about doing righteousness and giving determines
who is going to get that thanks and praise.
If people see or hear about your
deeds (whether from you or others) would they praise you or God? What is your
motivation for helping others? Do you hope they will see God behind it and
therefore come closer to Him, or do you hope people will like you because of it
and maybe give you a better position in the church culture? If people praise
you, do you accept the praise, or do you pass it on to God?
I have often been tempted to this.
The Lord often uses me to initiate and start something new in the church or
Christian organization by encouraging the pastor and taking the first steps. It
usually takes off with great glory and success, but nobody knows I was
involved. Often people praise the pastor for it, and God is glorified.
Sometimes I am tempted to sulk about it, but by the Lord’s grace I know I have
done my duty. Then I quietly slip into the background. God has seen it and He
will reward me one day.
Everything
belongs to the Lord. We have nothing. Why would we steal a tiny bit of glory or
praise that does not belong to us when the Lord promises an amazing reward in
heaven one day? We must become more heavenly minded. This short life on earth
is only a rehearsal for heaven. When we set our minds on results and rewards in
this life, working for accomplishments and rewards, we are very short-sighted.
What we then receive is of temporary nature and not eternal value. In the words
of our Lord from our passage above: “I tell you the truth, they have
received their reward in
full,” (Matthew 6:2).
Instead,
we must forget about the present and see whether our deeds are pleasing to God
so that we can receive our eternal rewards from Him. Whatever we do, we must
expect nothing now. One day the accounts will be settled. To be continued...For children and adults who are prepared to learn in a childlike way. For more information see http://t-a-c.co.za.
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