Why So Secret?

Matthew 6:1-6, NASB – Be careful that you don’t practice your religion in front of people to draw their attention. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.  “Whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow your trumpet as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may get praise from people. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get.  But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing  so that you may give to the poor in secret. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you.  “When you pray, don’t be like hypocrites. They love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners so that people will see them. I assure you, that’s the only reward they’ll get.  But when you pray, go to your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father who is present in that secret place. Your Father who sees what you do in secret will reward you..

Spoiler alert:  We will hear Jesus talk about practicing acts of piety in secret for the next half-chapter.  Give in secret, pray in secret, and fast in secret.  So what’s with all the secrecy?  After all, doing something so that others can see can lead to others doing the same thing, right?  Billionaires who publicly commit millions to charity often inspire or challenge other billionaires to do the same.  Why does Jesus want us to keep our spiritual disciplines on the down-low? 

There’s a clue to why in today’s passage.  Jesus speaks of “hypocrites” who “sound a trumpet” to let people know that they are giving.  He says of them:  “Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.”  Jesus identifies the praise they receive from others for their acts is the only benefit from their giving they will ever receive.  The implication is that, if they were to have given their gift in secret, a different and more important reward would be the result.  But Jesus doesn’t tell us explicitly what that reward is. 

But those who practice this secrecy over a long period of time can tell you about these rewards.  When you first start a discipline, it’s hard.  Being stroked for doing it by others helps you keep doing it.  That attention is addictive. It can become the reason for doing it.  I give because of what I get.  I pray because I am praised for doing so.  I fast because people tell me I’m noble to deny myself in that way.  When the social attention I get becomes the driving force behind the practice, the practice itself is robbed of its power. Giving, praying, and fasting (as well as other spiritual disciplines) are, at least in part, about shifting my focus off of me and onto God and others.  That shift has a transformative power on our soul.   As soon as they become about something I get in return, that shift in focus is sacrificed.  The transformational nature of the disciplines is lost.  The praise we receive for practicing these disciplines is all we will ever get from them.

However, when we practice our disciplines quietly with intention of practicing them with no social reward, the transformational power returns.  The Spirit shows up and over time, we begin to notice changes of a different sort.  We are becoming more generous.  Our prayer life seems more fruitful and our perspective on the rest of our life is expanded.  Fasting shows us that there is something we need even more than we need food – our connection to God. 

So give, pray, and fast, but don’t seek notoriety for doing them.  Not immediately, but over time, you will cherish your “secret life” with God in a way no human praise could ever touch.

Question:  What do you do with the intention of others noticing you doing it?

Prayer:  Holy Creator, you have our praise for all you bless us with, but that is not why you bless us.  You bless us because blessing is one way to describe who You are.  Make us a blessing to others and to you though shifting our focus off ourselves.  Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Pray specifically for a few people today that you don’t even know personally and will never know you prayed for them.

Song:  Secret Kingdom – Newsboys