Matthew 6:1-24
Once again Christ drives home the message that we must be careful not to be motivated by the praise of men when we "practice righteousness". Everyone likes to get a pat on the back, but we must not let this become our goal. For when it does, it disqualifies us from the eternal rewards that result from true and purely motivated righteousness. There are three disciplines that Jesus specifically encourages us to practice for which He promises rewards if we are not "showing off".
SECRET GIVING: When we help the poor or drop money in the offering, we must be careful to keep quiet about it. Money reveals so much about our hearts and our priorities. God wants us to give generously and He wants us to give gladly but He also want us to give quietly. We should not want or expect to have plaques put up on walls or have buildings named after us because we donated the money for a pew, a project or a property. We give that God might be glorified and He has promised to reward us in eternity for doing so.
SECRET PRAYING: The majority of our praying should be private. This is a sorely neglected discipline in the body of Christ. The church promotes prayer meetings and our services have "pastoral prayers" and that is as it should be. However, we must not think that waxing eloquent while we pray publicly at church or around our meal tables will result in eternal rewards. God wants us to get alone with Him and pray for His will to be done, for Him to meet our needs, for forgiveness of our sins and deliverance from temptation. Ironically, the "Lord's prayer" is mindlessly repeated over and over again with little thought as to the meaning of these words. Jesus specifically said not to do that. We pray in private and God's Spirit graciously works in our hearts that we might become more like Christ.
SECRET FASTING: If we do little praying, we do far less fasting. I believe that fasting is one of the forgotten disciplines of the faith. But if we choose to do it, we must resolve to keep quiet about it. People might be impressed if we tell them that we fast once a week or once a month or even once a year, but that does not impress God. If we fast we should strive to hide it from everyone possible. Our spouse and children might wonder where we are come meal time, but outside of the family no one needs to know. We fast that we might focus more fully on Christ and His work in us as well as His will for us, but we must keep our mouths shut; not just to keep food out but to keep bragging it in.
This passage is all about rewards. Public acts of obedience will earn pats on the back but the eternal rewards for these acts will be eaten by moths, corroded by rust and pillaged by thieves. Practicing the disciplines of the faith in private for the glory of God will reap rewards that I believe will dazzle the minds of those who have the most vivid of imaginations. If we are motivated by public praise; in eternity, we will want to kick ourselves in the pants for being so enamored with getting pats on the back.
SECRET GIVING: When we help the poor or drop money in the offering, we must be careful to keep quiet about it. Money reveals so much about our hearts and our priorities. God wants us to give generously and He wants us to give gladly but He also want us to give quietly. We should not want or expect to have plaques put up on walls or have buildings named after us because we donated the money for a pew, a project or a property. We give that God might be glorified and He has promised to reward us in eternity for doing so.
SECRET PRAYING: The majority of our praying should be private. This is a sorely neglected discipline in the body of Christ. The church promotes prayer meetings and our services have "pastoral prayers" and that is as it should be. However, we must not think that waxing eloquent while we pray publicly at church or around our meal tables will result in eternal rewards. God wants us to get alone with Him and pray for His will to be done, for Him to meet our needs, for forgiveness of our sins and deliverance from temptation. Ironically, the "Lord's prayer" is mindlessly repeated over and over again with little thought as to the meaning of these words. Jesus specifically said not to do that. We pray in private and God's Spirit graciously works in our hearts that we might become more like Christ.
SECRET FASTING: If we do little praying, we do far less fasting. I believe that fasting is one of the forgotten disciplines of the faith. But if we choose to do it, we must resolve to keep quiet about it. People might be impressed if we tell them that we fast once a week or once a month or even once a year, but that does not impress God. If we fast we should strive to hide it from everyone possible. Our spouse and children might wonder where we are come meal time, but outside of the family no one needs to know. We fast that we might focus more fully on Christ and His work in us as well as His will for us, but we must keep our mouths shut; not just to keep food out but to keep bragging it in.
This passage is all about rewards. Public acts of obedience will earn pats on the back but the eternal rewards for these acts will be eaten by moths, corroded by rust and pillaged by thieves. Practicing the disciplines of the faith in private for the glory of God will reap rewards that I believe will dazzle the minds of those who have the most vivid of imaginations. If we are motivated by public praise; in eternity, we will want to kick ourselves in the pants for being so enamored with getting pats on the back.
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