The Word of God is inerrant and infallible if it's taken literally, contextually, and historically. If you don't study the word with these three guidelines it can become muddy very quickly. So, with that in mind, I would love to hear thoughts on these two scriptures. How can we strive to fulfill the directives of both of these? Both of these scriptures are to be taken literally. They are not allegories for some other message. Historically they are very similar, so that leaves contextually. How does the context play into these two verses to alter their intent for the hearer?So what's the difference in the context? What's the underlying theme here? Isn't it ultimately about motives? If you're living your Christian life in the open for the sole purpose of bringing glory to God, then you are being the Christian light and example that Matthew 5 is calling you to be. However, if you're living your Christian life out in the open for the purpose of having glory of men, then you have your reward. It's not the physical aspect of someone seeing you do the good deed. If you drop a check in the donation box at church and someone see's you from across the room, it's not going to negate the blessing of the donation if your heart is pure in it's charity. However, if you put the donation in and hope someone does see you then missed it regardless of whether you we're physically seen or not. Christ knows your heart! He knows your motives and your desires. He was not necessarily condemning the pharisee's for the act of trumpet blowing he was condemning them because they did it "that they may have glory of men." Their motives were not Godly. When Jesus says "let not thy left hand know what thy right doeth". It's not a mandate to be as secretive as possible about your good deeds. It's a call to not seek out mans praise but rather to seek out God's praise!
These passages are not about the physical act of being seen, they are about your motives in doing the good works. Where are you laying up treasure? For that is where your heart will be.
12 comments:
I know I'm going to do a lousy job of putting my thoughts into words, but here's an attempt:
The first passage is about sharing the Gospel with others, rather than "hiding" it by keeping it within ourselves. This would include verbally, as well as nonverbally. As Ash said, this passage indicates we are to be an example for others around us. To show our faith by our actions. I think this is more referring to our overall demeanor, our general attitude about life (which is where I tend to falter a lot).
The second passage doesn't even have to do with the Gospel. It has to do with our individual actions and the attitudes driving those actions. By doing all our good deeds publically, we aren't behaving with a Christ-like attitude (there are multiple times Christ told people to thank God and "tell no man").
Did that make any sense??
It's good for me look at these contrastically (I think I just made up a word). There's a difference between 'doing good things' and living a life that's faithful to Christ. Sometimes I forget that.
Both excellent thoughts!! I like your last thought especially Dona. "There's a difference between 'doing good things' and living a life that's faithful to Christ." That is a truth that our minds tend to forget sometimes.
My motives are always pure.
I think that we as people tend to think we need to do good deeds to show our faithfulness to God.
But I think sometimes the best way to show Him our faithfulness is just by keeping ourselves seperate from the world.
Sure, we're here. For a while. But we're not of the world anymore. And we can show that as much by not doing evil as we can by doing good.
I did a Bible study this weekend on 'freedom from worldliness.' It had a quote I really liked. The author said ...there are no vacations in the Christian life. I cannot allow myself to "vacation" in the world.
It had another quote I really liked, too: Worldliness is not a matter of engaging in those practices that some question. It is unthinkingly adopting the perspectives, values, and attitudes of our culture, without bringing them under the judgement of God's word. It is carrying on in our lives as if we did not know Jesus. Lawrence O Richards.
I'm not sure this comment has anything whatsoever to do with your post, but I wanted to share it anyhow. :)
Taryn: I wish I could honestly say my motives are always pure.
But they're not.
Does that mean I'm a lousy Christian?
I think it means that sometimes the flesh wins the battle... but the Spirit will win the war!
All it means is that your human. There are none that are perfect, save one. The war is long and costly here on the earth, and Satan will win his victories, but we must never give up. In the end we will get our home in glory if we remain faithful.
I hope ya'll have a good day.
All: Regarding my statement above, I was just being sarcastic. Sorry- those of you who don't know me well don't know how sarcastic I can be and how untrue that statement really is!
Although, this is a good topic to discuss: the purity of our motives. What is a good way to make sure our motives ARE pure? What are some questions we can ask?
Often, I think I can fool myself into thinking my motives are pure when they really aren't. All it takes is one little twist of the situation for me to realize I was only doing something for the wrong reason...
T
I think Dona said it perfectly in her first comment. Couldn't have said it better myself. We are to be a light unto others, but not boast about the good deeds we do.
Not only are we to not boast about our good deeds, we're not even to want to boast about them. Once again, it's not so much about the action as it is about the motive.
Luke, excellent point.
I am pretty sure I don't have it quit word for word, but "... not by works lest any man should boast."
So where then, do we draw the line between boasting and sharing of a joyous experience?
Stephanie: I don't believe there is a line. I think the "line" is in your heart. Why are you sharing the experience? I don't think there are some things you share and it's ok, and some things you share and it's automatically boasting. It's about having a pure heart.
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