“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
Keeping secrets doesn’t seem like something that would be a part of Jesus’ overall discipleship plan. Secrets are not typically seen as healthy and are often connected to increased anxiety, depression, and poor health. Secrets have become a vessel by which we deceive others by withholding or concealing information from them; either for their detriment or our benefit.
However, the definition of secret is much less ominous: a secret is something that is kept or meant to be kept unknown or unseen by others.
Keeping something unknown or unseen does not have to be motivated by a desire to deceive. Instead, keeping something secret can be a discipline that when executed properly promotes a greater awareness of God rather than a greater awareness of ourselves. Unfortunately, most things people do today are plastered all over social media for all to see.
I think we can officially say that we live in the “Look at me! Look at me!” generation. There were lots of times when my kids were young that they would say “Look at me daddy” as they attempted something new or discovered a new talent. Some people, unfortunately, never grew out of the need to be seen and rather than mature decided to monetize that behavior and make a living at it. Thus, today we are inundated with apps to which we can subscribe to promote ourselves, our talents, our skill sets and opinions. We gauge our success by the number of likes, views, followers and subscribers we maintain.
Literally, we have tied success to how many people are looking at us. We jokingly say things like, “If you didn’t post it, it didn’t happen.” Yet, we are raising a generation of young adults that in some ways believe that to be true. If no one saw me, it doesn’t count. Not just on a personal or professional level, but spiritually as well.
I was thinking about this phenomenon within the context of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6. In His discourse, Jesus is distinguishing between the religious leaders of His day with those who would choose to follow Him. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Pharisee’s of Jesus’ day would have certainly utilized social media accounts if they would have had them. Think about this from Matthew 6:2
“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.”-Matthew 6:2.
If they were going as far as to literally “toot their own horns” in the streets and synagogues, they certainly would have posted pictures of themselves giving to the needy.
Giving to help those in need was not their primary goal. The goal of their giving was to be seen by men. Not being seen, was like it never happened. You can’t build a reputation or a following among men by making your giving secret. However, you can build a tremendous reputation with God, who sees everything, even the secret things.
Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
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