Do you serve your local church? Do you serve your local community? These are basic parts of the Christian life that many people miss. The privilege of serving should also bring great joy to those who follow Christ. In a recent Lifeway Research study, more churchgoers reported seeking and obeying God than serving God or serving others. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that to obey the Lord, we must serve others.
Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Mt 6:1–4). Tyndale House Publishers.
When we serve others with our time, money, actions, and talents, then we are honoring God with our time and honoring how He made us. Jesus commissioned us to go out into the world in order to spread the Gospel. At the heart of this commission is service. We serve by sharing the Good News of Christ’s resurrection with them, and we buy the right to speak into their lives through service. If that service is blatantly public and self-seeking, then it will bear no fruit. People will see through it and, more importantly, God will see through it.
Jesus expects his disciples to give generously, but not conspicuously. Sound no trumpet is probably metaphorical for calling attention to oneself, as in other ancient literature, since no literal use of trumpets in connection with almsgiving is clearly attested.
France, R. T. (1985). Matthew: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 1, p. 136). InterVarsity Press.
Some people think that giving in person is better because giving online removes the act of physically handing money to God for use. Obviously, this was the only option for most of history. There is reason to appreciate physical acts of worship. Kneeling and closing your eyes to pray definitely helps us to submit ourselves to the Lord and focus on this intimate act. I am of the opinion that giving online is especially discreet and follows what Jesus tells us to do in this passage. I would not claim that one way of giving is better than the other. What I would say is that we should always be conscious of what and how we serve the Lord and His kingdom.
The goal of helping another should never be attention to oneself as the helper, but simply aid for the person in need. The promise is that giving to the needy in secret will be seen by our Heavenly Father and rewarded
Hahn, R. L. (2007). Matthew: a commentary for Bible students (p. 99). Wesleyan Publishing House.
Hahn brings us to the point I want to end on. We are not to put ourselves in the spotlight as the helper. The spotlight is on the person we are helping and the reason we are helping. That reason is always that we live to love like Jesus. Nothing we can do for someone else will ever compare to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. This is why we are not saved by works, but we must show our faith through our works. When we let ourselves become more important than our work, we distract those we help with ourselves rather than showing them why we serve. If we are truly seeking the Lord, then we must show His love through the way we serve the world. This is the only way the Gospel will truly spread to all corners of the globe and God has invited us into this mission.
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