Rightly Doing Good

   Recently we were with some people and got into a conversation about giving and recognition for those gifts. One person stated that if someone made a special effort to help their church or help someone in need, the church was at fault for not properly recognizing what they had done. He stated that if he was to do something like that, he would expect to be pointed out as a person of generosity and applauded for his good works.

   Where does this attitude come from?

   As Christians, we want to be generous people. We want to help others. But sometimes we want people to know it and to give us praise for what we do. Not that we should be ashamed for these acts, but that it seems to validate what we have done and who we are.

   But what does Jesus have to say about this?

   From Matthew 6 (The Message):

“Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.

 “When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—‘playactors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out."

   Do it in secret.

   There is even a problem in doing it the right way but with the wrong motive. The object of our generosity is not to get a reward from God, it is to do His will and help those that need it.

   God still comes first in this equation.

   The ones we help come next.

   My gifts are not even in the same ballpark.

   Again, as in so many of the things that Jesus talked about in the previous verses of the Sermon on the Mount, it is a matter of the heart. That shows us who we really are.

   Do good.

   Do right.