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These are the words of Jesus Christ, in Matthew 6 verse 1-8.
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
It seems that these verses fly directly in the face of American evangelical Christianity. From my time in fundamentalism and evangelicalism, everything Jesus here warns his disciples not to do are the things that are at the core of the way they practice their faith. Proclaiming it with the trumpets in the public square as well as political activism in attempt to force faux righteousness on non-believers. Fundamentalism is very strong on being outwardly righteous to be seen by men. Jesus here warns against that. This also seems to affirm faith as a personal thing, something between you and God. Jesus here tells us to go into our closet to pray, not to do it on the street corners, or even the synagogues. This flies directly in the face of fundamentalism which pushes so hard for a collective Christian culture. Synagogues are intriguing..are we getting this wrong even in our churches? A lot of people use public prayer as means to showcase how righteous and spiritual they are, with eloquent words, which doesn't quite match up with what Jesus is saying here.
I never questioned this growing up fundamentalist because I thought that is how Christians are supposed to be. I thought outward righteousness, public prayer, and political activism pushing for Biblical worldview public policy was the duty of a Christian. A few years ago, before I really started becoming disillusioned with evangelicalism, I read this passage and its kind of bothered me ever since.
These are the words of Jesus Christ, in Matthew 6 verse 1-8.
Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 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. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
It seems that these verses fly directly in the face of American evangelical Christianity. From my time in fundamentalism and evangelicalism, everything Jesus here warns his disciples not to do are the things that are at the core of the way they practice their faith. Proclaiming it with the trumpets in the public square as well as political activism in attempt to force faux righteousness on non-believers. Fundamentalism is very strong on being outwardly righteous to be seen by men. Jesus here warns against that. This also seems to affirm faith as a personal thing, something between you and God. Jesus here tells us to go into our closet to pray, not to do it on the street corners, or even the synagogues. This flies directly in the face of fundamentalism which pushes so hard for a collective Christian culture. Synagogues are intriguing..are we getting this wrong even in our churches? A lot of people use public prayer as means to showcase how righteous and spiritual they are, with eloquent words, which doesn't quite match up with what Jesus is saying here.
I never questioned this growing up fundamentalist because I thought that is how Christians are supposed to be. I thought outward righteousness, public prayer, and political activism pushing for Biblical worldview public policy was the duty of a Christian. A few years ago, before I really started becoming disillusioned with evangelicalism, I read this passage and its kind of bothered me ever since.
Am I misinterpreting this?
I would suggest that a lot of American Christianity -- evangelical churches and otherwise -- get poked in the eye by this verse. Yes--many people that sit in Christian churches weekly are only there because they want to be seen doing it.
Does that invalidate Christianity? No. But it does illustrate a need for authentic Christianity.
Obviously it is not it what it looks like because Jesus did exactly that. He taught publicly and proclaimed He was the way to God, the only way.
He specifically speaks of trying to get people to think of you as special for giving to the poor or being a better person than others for your actions.
It is not saying not to preach because Jesus sent His followers to do just that.
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