Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
– Matthew 6:1-6
There are many difficult things that Jesus taught. Among them, this may be just about the most difficult. You may not agree, and if you don’t, that’s great! It means you are gaining victory over one of the worst ailments of the human condition. If you do agree, you are not obliged to post “amen” in the comments. Just know that I am willing to be the public representative of all who like for others to know when we’ve done something good.
In these verses Jesus takes aim at religious practices that would have been easily recognizable for Jews in his time. He specifically names two: praying and giving to the poor. Both of these practices would have been things the common people had seen or heard the Pharisees do time after time, which in itself gives us a clue to the problem. Jesus is not against giving to the poor, and he is certainly not against prayer. However, there is a factor that significantly affects the way Jesus views how these are practiced from one person to the next. Simply stated, the difference lies in the motivation behind the practice. Why are the alms being given to the poor? Why are the prayers being offered. This is the big difference-maker.
You might be inclined to think Jesus was concerned with the when, the where, and the how of giving and praying. After all, he did say “let your giving be in secret” and “go into your inner room and pray.” While this is true, let’s think for a moment. If I ask Mrs. Brown to pray to open our Bible study, she will not say, “Oh, no, pastor, I’m not supposed to pray where other people can hear.” We have many biblical examples of public prayer that would not stand in contrast to Jesus’ teaching. Similarly, if a poor person approached you on the busy sidewalks of Dallas, would you ask the person to step with you into a secluded alley just to make sure no one saw you giving help? Of course not. If you were moved by the Spirit to help, you would simply give the help and move on without worrying about others seeing. The when, where and how of our righteous acts do matter, but only as they relate to the critical issue, which is motive.
At this point we should name the motive that Jesus sees as problematic. It is none other than pride, that devilish inclination that has created problems as far back as Eden. Why do I want my good deeds to be seen by someone? Pride. If I do something good and no one sees it, why do I have a nagging urge to tell someone at the first opportunity? Still pride. It can even affect the way I live out my faith. I might be motivated to pray so that people will think, “Wow, what a spiritual guy he is!” Pride has a voracious appetite, and it will even use our religious practices to satisfy its hunger.
Jesus knows the connection between acts of righteousness and feeding our pride. He has seen it in action plenty of times, and uses these examples to show his disciples a better way with a better reward. When we feed our pride with the admiration of others, that is all the reward we have. It may be quite satisfying to our flesh, but it will not nurture us spiritually. If, however, we will follow Jesus’ teaching, there is a greater blessing in store. It may require that we put up some guardrails just to make sure. That’s really what “giving in secret” and “praying in your inner room” do for us; they give us some margin so pride cannot rob us of our greater reward.
And what is this greater reward? Nothing less than the approval of God. In his willingness to endure the harsh scrutiny of people, the apostle Paul poses the question, “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God?” (Galatians 1:10). For Paul, the only approval that matters is the approval of God. Of course, when you behold Jesus on the cross and consider the magnitude of his love, how could anyone’s approval other than Christ’s mean anything to us? The approval of man leaves us in a never-ending pursuit of feeding our pride. The approval of God gives us a deep, satisfying joy of the soul. Surely we would find one much more attractive than the other.
See you along the Winding Path.
The Winding Path 