“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. 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 honoured by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6: 1-4)

In Jesus day giving to the poor was seen as ‘Acts of Righteousness’ the godly made it a priority  as an act of faithfulness to God. You could not say you had faith without giving to the poor.  This attitude is rooted in Ezekiel chapter 18

“He does not oppress anyone, but returns what he took in pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery but gives his food to the hungry and provides clothes for the naked.”  Ezekiel 18:7

You might like to read the chapter, to Ezekiel the faithful soul looks out for the poor, while the ungodly neglects the needy.

Jesus’ backs Ezekiel’s call to give to the poor and needy but he is highly critical of giving with the motive of getting praise from others. He associates this type of giving with hypocrisy.  You might remember my earlier post of Hypocrisy the grace killer http://bit.ly/9DfRZJ

You can see that ‘hypocrisy’ the word came from the profession of acting with masks.  The hypocrites had a public image or “personal branding” They became preoccupied with the appearance of righteousness and not heartfelt relationship with their heavenly Father.  Jesus was attacking false worship. They gave to the poor but the motive was to hunt for praise from others. They were worshipping themselves not God.

What Jesus is telling us is that all giving is between you and your Father, God. It’s an act of worship to God! You give to God for the benefit of the poor and needy.  The heart remains pure, linking you and God together in blessing the poor.  This creates intimacy with God.

I believe Jesus would be equally critical of churches who collect money with no intention of giving to the poor and needy or helping them in any way. Some ministries encourage giving with applause and cheers with pats on the back. Then they spend that money on marketing the image of the church. They not only encourage hypocrisy in its members, but steal from God and the poor.

A good and faithful heart knows grace but fancy packaging leads to hypocrisy!