FROM THE DAWGHOUSE…

                                     PLAYING CHRISTIAN

This was my text for today’s DAWG…

         Matthew 6:1-18

1 “Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

² “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they will be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ³ But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, ⁴ so that your charitable giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁵ “And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ⁶ But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

⁷ “And when you are praying, do not use thoughtless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. ⁸ So do not be like them; for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

⁹ “Pray, then, in this way:

‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people for their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive your offenses.

¹⁶ “Now whenever you fast, do not make a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they distort their faces so that they will be noticed by people when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. ¹⁷ But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that your fasting will not be noticed by people but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Long text I know.  I’ll keep this short!

• This passage could be titled, as it was in The Harmony of the Gospels I’m reading it out of: “Three hypocritical practices to be avoided.” Hypocrisy: play acting.  Fake spirituality.
• Giving money, praying, and fasting are three acts that God’s people did in the Old Testament times and are things we do as Messiah’s followers today. These actions are responses to God’s stunning and amazing Grace in our lives through Jesus!  We don’t do them to gain our place with Him but because we have a place with Him as sons.   Motive is everything to Jesus.
• Verse 1 shows the false motive for doing these good acts: “Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”

Great men as God defines greatness, true disciples, live from the inside out.  From the heart and motive level outward. From being loved to doing loving actions. They do what they do from a Gospel motivation, not a human and self-oriented motivation.  We work daily in our DAWG to go back to our high status in Christ and start our day remembering that our true worth, our ultimate worth, our eternal worth is as sons.  We’re approved by God, and that launches us into our purpose as leaders, worker-providers and warrior-ambassadors.

So…to seek approval and recognition from people is a ridiculous attempt to gain worth from them.  Substandard worth.  Temporary worth. As if people’s recognition and opinion of us really can affect our status and worth and save us from sinking into despair of our worthlessness.

Ok…well, human approval can make us feel good, for a while.  It can give us some status with some people in some places, for a while…a short time…until they forget you.  Which people do.

The challenge of Jesus in this super-important part of the Sermon on the Mount (“Pete, are there any non-super-important parts of anything Jesus says?”  No, you’re right.) is that if I do any Christian acts to gain approval from humans, I’m a religious hypocrite.

As the Pharisees were.  Play actors.  People on a self-salvation project.  People who just don’t get what sin-the cross-grace actually have to do with anything.  Enemies of Jesus.

These “three hypocritical practices to be avoided” are illustrative of the truth that all hypocritical practices ought to be avoided.  Grace in Christ has to be held onto as tenaciously as if you’re slipping down a cliff with only one rope to hold on to.  That rope is the grace of God in the work of Jesus Messiah.

So here’s my prayer for today:

Lord, as much as I’m holding on to Your grace through faith alone in Jesus, I still revert back to the hypocrisy of trying to find my worth in the approval and recognition of other people sometimes.  When I do that, will You Holy Spirit make me super-conscious that I’m doing that?  And will you enable me to repent of that hypocrisy and disconnect from the need and desire for human approval once and for all?  Well, I know perfection isn’t until heaven, but I’d sure like to be done with this dependency!  My Lord Jesus thank You for teaching so clearly on this.  Rip out the Pharisee in my heart out and send him packing!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Pete Alwinson