Caution: Beware Your Own Motives

Matthew 6:1-4
Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
Therefore, when you do your charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
That your charitable deed may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will, Himself, reward you openly. NKJV

I enjoy a good movie or a theatrical production. I can "lose myself" in the story line when really good actors and actresses exercise their craft skillfully. I have cried with Miss Celie, in "The Color Purple", as life handed her blow after blow. I empathized with the woman in "Diary of a Mad Housewife" when she discovered her husband's infidelity. I have gone to the movies to see Malcolm X and then been distraught when assassins "killed" Denzel Washington, who played the main part. (Not really. Denzel is still alive and well and most handsome. He was just acting like he was dead.)I have gone to Passion plays at Easter and been convicted as I watched how my sin and your sin hung Jesus on a cross. I tell you I love a good production.

But Matthew 6 lets us know that in the Theater of Real Life, God is the audience and we are the performers, and He does not appreciate us wearing a mask. He does not applaud when we engage in pretense and hypocrisy and admonishes us to keep it real.

In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us not to do our charitable deeds in order to be seen by men. Do not be like the hypocrites who sound a trumpet to call attention to their deeds by blowing a loud trumpet. Those who do good works or give alms to the poor in order to gain the praise of man will have no reward from their Father who is in heaven.

In Bible times, the hypocrite was a person who read a script. They often wore a mask equipped to amplify their voice. In the New Testament, the word is often used to talk of a person who is playing a role. They exhibited piety and external righteousness,of a sort,in public, but they were insincere.

Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisee for being hypocrites and He knew their motives for giving, praying, fasting and doing good deeds was often polluted by a desire to receive the approval of men. They wanted to seem to be better than they were and better than everybody else. They did the right things for the wrong reasons and later Paul, in 2Timothy 3:5 describes this kind of behavior as "having a form of godliness, but without power". From such people we are told to stay away.

In Matthew 23, Jesus goes on to pronounce devastation and ruin on the Pharisees. On the one hand they went around giving long drawn out public prayers, while at the same time, devoured widows. In other words, they were exploiting the helpless at the same time they were trying to look like the were super holy. (v.14)

Matthew 23:15 goes on to say to the Pharisees, "Woe to you" for you travel land and sea seeking to win converts to your religion only to turn them into bigger devils than yourself.

Verse 25 tells us that the hypocrites sanctimoniously cleaned the outside of dishes and cups as part of their religious rituals, but inside their own hearts they were full of extortion and self indulgence. Verse 27 tells us they looked like beautiful whitewashed tombs on the outside but were really full of dead men's bones and uncleanness. "Even so, (said Jesus), you outwardly appear righteous to men but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."

Hypocrisy is the same sin that made Paul rebuke Peter in Galatians 2:11. For at one time as he evangelized, he broke bread with the Gentiles, but when his friends came from Jerusalem, he pretended he did not know them and would not eat with them.

Hypocrisy is the same thing that got Ananias and Sapphira in trouble in Acts 5, for when they saw Barnabas sell his property and lay the proceeds at the feet of the apostles to be used for the common good of the Christian community, they pretended to do the same. However, in reality, they sold their land and kept back a portion for themselves. Peter accused them of lying not only to man but to the Holy Spirit. Upon hearing this, Ananias was convicted and died. Young men came in, carried him away and buried him. Three hours later, Sapphira came in with the same story and had the same tragic results and the undertakers buried her beside her husband.

God wants us to be real. He wants us to do the things we do, not to win the approval of men, but to please God. He sees our hearts and despite our best pretenses, our All-knowing God is not fooled by our external acts of false piety and he will not reward them. He wants us to be as truthful and faithful as He is. When He makes a promise it will be performed. When He does a compassionate act, it comes from His loving character and proceeds out of who He is. There is no pretense in God. He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.
Therefore, 1 Peter 2:1 reminds us to lay aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy and all evil speaking. How can the world be won if our witness is corrupt and how can we influence others for Christ if we are not who we say we are? Be careful. your motives are showing.