Showing Off in the House of God

Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. Matthew 6:1-4

Many years ago when we were new missionaries in Tappita, Liberia, on Sundays I often attended the local Baptist church while Mark went into one of the nearby towns or villages to minister. One Sunday while sitting in the service I looked around and noticed a young lady wearing a skirt that had obviously been an extremely fortunate find in the used clothes market. It was made of white chiffon with stripes of pastel ribbons in neat rows around the hemline. It was absolutely beautiful.

As the service progressed songs were sung, announcements made and an offering taken. After the ushers had prayed, asking God to bless the offering, and placed the baskets neatly on the communion table, the young lady with the beautiful skirt stood up. With every eye in the building firmly fixed on her, she sashayed to the front of the church and dropped a coin into one of the baskets. She twirled gracefully, paused briefly as she face her audience, and then, in the same dramatic fashion, made her way back to the pew. I remember it clearly to this day.

According to Matthew 6, this young lady received her reward for giving right then and there. Her motive was blatantly obvious—attention.  But sadly I have been guilty of the same thing. While I don't think that given my cultural background I would have ever been tempted to sashay to the offering plate at the front of the church and plop in coins, how often as a youth did I practice for a piano offertory with special attention not only to spiritually bless others but also to show off my skills? How many times was my mind more on what I was wearing than the service? How many times have my "spiritual services" been rendered with motives not entirely spiritual? 

We humans are complicated creatures and we rarely accurately discern our own motives. God has no such difficulty. How thankful I am His patient refining work has reached deep and brought to light my propensity to want to share God's glory. But the beauty of it is, when I do things for His glory rather than my own, I find myself feeling more satisfied than I ever felt when seeking glory for myself. It's a win-win situation!