Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

What Next?

Matthew 6:1-4


Rena Titus

St. John's MTC, NY
“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. v.1 


Recently, my social media newsfeeds have been “flooded” with children, friends, coworkers and celebrities who have accepted the ice bucket challenge. This movement has swept the nation to raise awareness for ALS research. However, one of my closest friends simply stated, “I’m just going to make the donation and skip the ice water.” My husband echoed the same thing when he stated that he’d rather see someone post their donation rather than the ice water.
 
Too often, something, even if the intention is good, can lose its meaning once it goes mainstream. Sure, its fun to see our friends pour ice water on their heads, and some of the videos have been quite entertaining, but what happens after that? I do not doubt that these individuals have also made donations to charities of their choice, but what is the follow up from this video?
 
Yesterday was World Humanitarian Day, a day set apart to remember the death of 22 aid workers whose lives were lost at the UN headquarters in Baghdad (worldhumanitarianday.org) This is the day we honor all those who have lost their lives doing this great service, and to honor those who continue to do it. Our accepting the ice bucket challenge allows us to give back to our brothers and sisters, in order to raise awareness. There is a true humanitarian theme behind this challenge and this is something that the world can see. But many of the humanitarians of this world do not post their videos on social media
 
In Matthew 6:1, it reads “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”
 
Please do not think that this is a call for everyone to STOP the ice bucket challenge - that is not the intention. The concern here, is whether after this one practice of righteousness or goodness is completed, will anything follow it? Verse 2 says “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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”
 
This challenge is one of the easiest ways to show others that we want to do good things in this world, and the “likes” received will be our reward. But then what? Suffering a bucket of ice water is a temporary suffering, but nothing compared to humanitarians who have lost their life for the betterment of others.
 
Jesus tells us that our left hand shouldn't know what the right hand is doing, so that our giving may be in secret – and then we will get the reward from our Father. 


Prayer: Dear God, let my actions today and every day that follows be for the benefit of those around me. Let me reflect you in all of my interactions, that people may see You in me. Father, let me not forget the purpose behind the good that I do. Let me become smaller and You become larger in my life, this day and always. AMEN. 


Thought for the day: Let our actions not stop short, but continue beyond the videos and posts, to something greater. As the North East Region Youth Fellowship has aptly challenged us- do something. 

Popular posts from this blog

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum