Let me tell you about some of the wonderful things I have done in my life. I’m sure you will be impressed…I mean blessed. I was driving in Michigan with my family on a snowy evening and saw a car ahead of me slide on the ice into the ditch. Without concern for my own safety and comfort, I stopped and pushed the lady’s car out of the ditch. Another time, my doorbell rang at three in the morning and a neighbor I didn’t even know well was standing on my porch. She was in pain and needed a ride to the hospital. Even though I wanted to be sleeping, I took her to the hospital. How’s that for being a wonderful guy?!
I hope you realize the above paragraph was written tongue in cheek to make a point. Last week we discussed the spiritual discipline of giving our time, talents, and treasures. This post is about the discipline of humility, serving without expecting or receiving the approval of other people. Some have even referred to this as the discipline of secrecy.
Jesus modeled this for us. We do have lasting records of some unbelievable accomplishments of Jesus while on earth. These are to show us his power and character. However, there were many times when Jesus would minister to someone and end their encounter by asking them not to tell anyone. The Gospel of John tells us that there were many acts of service and ministry Jesus did that his Holy Spirit did not even allow to be recorded. John 21:25 says, Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
In his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6, Jesus gives us the reason for this discipline. Verses 1-4 teach us to, “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
The significance of this passage is the consequence of disobeying the admonition Jesus gives. When we choose to use our acts of service and giving to draw attention or praise of people to ourselves, we forfeit the reward God wishes to give us.
As true disciples of Christ, we know we will someday stand before the Judgement Seat of Christ. This is not a place to decide our eternal destiny. Our redemption and the promise of eternity in heaven was secured at the death and resurrection of Jesus. It was affirmed by our act of faith in accepting the gift of salvation. This judgement will be a review of our service to our Lord. Scripture teaches that we will receive a crown and each of our genuine acts of humble service will be a jewel in that crown.
We won’t be strutting through heaven showing off our jeweled headpiece. The purpose of the crown is to serve as our offering to Jesus; an act of worship in response to the sacrifice he paid to offer our redemption. We will lay our crowns at his feet. When we strive for the praise of people in our giving to God, that becomes all we receive. We lose the opportunity to offer our best to Jesus.
Service in secrecy is a means by which we can keep our lives closer to Jesus. These acts are things that only we and Jesus know about and therefore, provide a level of intimacy between us. In this choice, God is honored.