“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 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. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. — Matthew 6:1-4
The above passage begins a discussion about whether people should be sharing on social media (or elsewhere) what they are doing in service to the Lord. This conversation comes because I have seen a few critical comments about people sharing their activities and actions related to their faith and the things they do on His behalf.
The criticism is sometimes tied to the verse above about the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. The interpretation of this is taken to mean that people should not be broadcasting their activities in public spaces because they are seen as being boastful and perhaps prideful.
Let’s first put that passage in its proper context. Jesus is talking about giving here and He is specifically referencing people who give in such a way that others will notice what they are doing and therefore give them praise for their generosity. Praise from others is their motive. The point Jesus is making is that when people purposefully give to receive attention, they are more concerned about the attention they will receive then they are about helping someone. Thus, he calls them hypocrites. If no one was watching, they would never give. They deliberately give with trumpet sound for the attention and not because they love the poor and downtrodden.
Now back up a chapter and see what Jesus says about being a light:
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. — Mattthew 5:14-16
In this passage Jesus is instructing the believers to shine brightly for all to see their good works and thus give glory to the Father, who made it all possible.
Are these contradictory? No. The difference is stated very clearly by Jesus. On the one hand, we are to shine brightly our deeds because we want God to get the glory. On the other hand, we are never to do anything with the intent of seeking our own glory. When we make a public display of our giving, for the purpose of having others worship us, we are seeking our own glory.
The difference is the motivation of our heart. Why are we sharing what we are sharing? Is it to bring focus upon ourselves, or to bring people to see what God is doing in our lives and all around us?
Keep this in mind. If no one spoke out about the things they were doing – would we ever know the stories of the many missionaries who have done amazing things for God in their work? We might even go so far as to wonder how much of a Bible we would have if people had never shared about the things they saw God do in their lives, or the lives of others, or in their churches. We wouldn’t have the book of Acts!
Paul’s statement in Romans 10:14b-15, “And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” sheds some light on this. The word for preach here is the same word that can also be translated “proclaim” or “make public something that has happened”.
In other words, Paul could be saying, “How would anyone know what God is doing if people don’t talk about it?”
There are so many negative statements being made about Christians today on social media. Many of them are based on an ignorance of what Christians actually do. For example, it is common to hear that Christians don’t care anything about the poor. They may talk a good game, but they don’t actually do anything.
The reality is that Christians are statistically shown to be more generous than non-believers when it comes to charitable giving (https://www.christianpost.com/…/practicing-christians…). Plus, as we can attest in our own local situation, when people ask for financial help, the ones they often know they can ask are the churches and Christians.
In recent months there have been stories of churches giving significant sums to cover medical expenses, etc. For example, a church in Georgia paid off $2.6 million in medical debt (https://www.fox5atlanta.com/…/georgia-church-wipes-out…). Another church paid off $8 million in medical debt a few months ago. These are only two of a large set of generous giving stories that should be told.
If these stories aren’t told, how does God get the glory? Are we not supposed to let our light shine in these situations? We enjoy seeing positive news about people doing good things, so why do we judge our fellow friends and neighbors when those stories are closer to home? Shouldn’t we be happy and proud to know people who are walking the talk?
The world is filled with negative stories. Any news site can fill their pages with articles about how dark things are. How about we decide to counter all that negativity with an abundance of stories that show what the light is doing? Not for the purpose of getting temporary praise, but for the goal of bringing others into eternity.
Motive matters. When we judge the motive of others wrongly, we may soon find ourselves needing to answer to God for the state of our own hearts. Perhaps the issue is projection. Projection is placing on another what is inside our self. If you know your motive would be wrong, you assume the others is. Make your motive being a light to reflect the glory of God and you will find yourself recognizing that this is what other people of light are doing too.
