By Paul It is not difficult to understand what Jesus is getting at in Matthew chapter 6. Three times he condemns religious acts that are done merely for show. He says God hates it when we pray so that other people can see us and give so other people will praise us and fast so other people will applaud us.
When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly
And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do
When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity!
In an age when we are obsessed with getting our message out there and saying things so that people can hear us I wonder if we are doing our blogging and tweeting and podcasting and sermon uploading and so on and so forth “with trumpets”.I am well aware that practically everything we do has mixed motives, and I am also aware that having the wrong motives doesn’t mean you should automatically stop doing something. But I feel the temptation in my own heart to do things so that people will say “Isn’t he wise” or “Isn’t he godly” or alike. It seems like a bit of a slap in the face to Jesus to keep quoting him and using him as an excuse to get ourselves more well known.
challenging post!