In Matthew 6 Jesus contrasts the actions that bless us and Daddy's heart with the showy, prideful spiritual displays of the Pharisees. This is the famous passage where we are told not to let the left hand know the charity the right hand is doing. This is also where we are told not to pray in public for recognition but rather to go into our inner room where no one can see. A little later in the chapter He tells us not to put on a show so the whole world knows we're fasting but to go about things in such a way that you don't appear to be fasting. And if you are anything like me, Dear Reader, you can twist yourself into a knot or get overly rules oriented, outside matters, about sayings like this.
There are some Protestants who will not participate in an Ash Wednesday services because they feel being anointed with the ashes and having that sign of repentance on display is a violation of the prayer and fasting scriptures from Matthew 6. And if the motive is look at me, look how repentant I am, look how spiritual I am, look how good and faithful to religion I am, then it would absolutely be better to skip it or to wipe it off before leaving the place of anointing. But if it is there so that it makes you uncomfortable every time you have an impulse to wipe the oily, gritty cross from your forehead and remind you of the suffering of Christ for us and to open the door to share why you believe what you believe so that you can be a light in the darkness, then there is nothing against it in what Jesus said about putting on a show.
Let's keep in mind, that Jesus prayed in public. At least one time He prayed aloud specifically so that those who were with Him would hear and see Him. But it was so they would see the love and power of Daddy. He went off alone to pray often, but where and why He was going off alone wasn't a big secret. At one point the disciples brought someone to Jesus they had prayed for without success, and when they asked why they hadn't been able to meet the need Jesus told them that some spiritual warfare can only be won with prayer and fasting. No one said wow, we didn't know you fast Jesus! Jesus fasted and prayed regularly, and the disciples knew it.
We have entered our third week of Lent, and it was just the day before yesterday that my wife noticed one of the things that I had given up, that I am fasting from. And when she asked me about it, my first feeling was that I had blown it, because it wasn't secret anymore. But then immediately I knew that is legalistic, bogus thinking. Jesus wasn't saying that no one can know you're fasting. He especially wasn't telling you to keep things from your helpmate. I have shared with the entire world that I fast during Lent, usually right before Lent begins. Because I believe in the idea of if you want what I have, then doing what I do can help you get it. I share that I pray and meditate in the morning and evening, that I pray throughout my day, that I read the Bible daily, etc. not to say look at me, but in order to share some things that I do that help me with relationship and call others to seek to draw closer to God.
We could never know that we need to spend time in certain spiritual practices if no one with a relationship with Daddy that we want didn't share their practices with us. But the inside needs to match the outsides. None of my spirituality is ever going to be good enough to earn me brownie points with God. My goodness is pretty nasty. The same is true for you, by the way. So it's not ever going to be a matter of look how good I am, because if anyone ever really looks at us, they will see a mess. But if we spend that time alone with Daddy, and yes, praying and meditating and reading and studying and fasting, and such, not because we have to or because of some religious right and wrongs but out of love and a desire to get closer to the One who brought our spirit to life, then our motives become about love and not earning anything or showing off. Then when something does happen to be or needs to be seen by others, it's no longer about us at all. Looking at us shows only the wonders of relationship with Daddy, what His love, power and glory can do, and it can draw others to relationship with Him and demonstrate how we enter and deepen that relationship.
Let's not forget that before Jesus got to all this don't be showy, do in secret stuff, He said in chapter 5:16, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. That's right, in the chapter before all that secret talk He tells us to let people see what we are doing. That's the first call. Be a light. Lift Him up. Share why and how and what relationship with God. Don't hide. Our lives may be the only picture of Jesus some people ever see and the only Bible they ever read. Our lives are to be a demonstration of His love, His power, His glory and His way of life. But then, after that, He says now that we covered that, be sure that is is about love, that is about others seeing Daddy and not about our pride. Make sure you're not trying to earn anything but merely being charitable to pour God's love and care into someone else. Motives matter. Spend time doing it in secret so that the public action has the right motive and will glorify Daddy.
Don't get hung up on the where. Don't get all legalistic with I have to hide my spirituality and relationship with God. No one can know I pray, or hear me pray. No one can ever know I do or am fasting. No one needs to know how much time I spend reading God's word. No one can know that I did..... whatever. It's not that no one can know. The question is if we let people know in such a way that they don't see us but see Him. And if we are pointing the way to relationship, enabled by Him and not because anything about us, then we need to be letting others see that. How else will they know if we aren't shining the light on the path?
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