A Thought For The Week Of June 5, 2017

"But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing ..." (Matthew 6:3) What we do as Christians - how we live and the works we perform - should always be for the sake of the other. That seems like a pretty basic Christian principle, easy to defend from both the example of Jesus and from the Bible. We seek neither credit nor gain for the works that we do. It's always interesting to run across a Christian who makes their works very obvious, as if there's a show being put on and their real goal is to get attention more than it is to help whoever is being helped by their work. It runs counter to the idea that we should be humble. That's pretty obvious. But it isn't just that we need to not put our works on display for others. We also need to look within ourselves at our own motivation. I know that many people feel a sense of pride or accomplishment when they do good works that help others. That's human; it's only natural . But if it becomes our primary motivation for the works we do, there's a problem. In fact, Matthew 6:3-4 would seem to suggest that Jesus himself sees it as problematic if our goal is mainly to make us feel good about ourselves. If that's our reason for what we do - even if what we do does provide help to someone (and even if we don't draw attention to ourselves) - then, indeed, our priorities are out of line. Our focus is on ourselves and how we feel, but the only orientation of a follower of Jesus should be toward the other. The privilege of helping and serving others should be our only motivation; it should be the only motivation we need. Putting our faith into action isn't meant to seek attention or to feel good about ourselves. It's to make ourselves servants of those who have need. The Christian life should be not "me" centred but "you" centred faith (or, not "we" centred to "they" centred.) That's how Jesus lived and served. That should be our example. That's a mark of an authentic faith.