Beware of Righteousness for Show

Mt 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men.”

Summary Notes

What did Jesus say?

Jesus said to be careful about how I go about doing good. He will say more about this in the next command but in this command Jesus implies that God notices when I do good things for the right reasons.

Why would He say this?

Photo: Dawn Carlson – I’m using this lighthouse picture again because the Lighthouse at Eagle Harbor had a Lifesaving Station. When a ship became stranded it was up to the men of the United States Life Saving Service to rescue them. This they did many times. They did not go out to show-off. They went out because it was their job to risk their own lives to save others regardless of the victims’ social status, wealth or goodness. This image and more can be found in the Photo Gallery. Click here see why I like lighthouses.

This command is about how to demonstrate love, that is practicing good deeds for people with acts of service or charity. It is also about who gets the credit.

At first this command appears to contradict Jesus’ earlier command to, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” The first instruction is for me to do good so that others get the credit and the second is to be careful not to show-off how good I am. I can do a good deed to receive the praise of people or I can do it in a way so as to minimize the praise given to me and to allow them to give praise to God or perhaps to an organization.

Click here for my personal application and your comments link …or Scroll down for my full notes…

COMMAND 21: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men…”

Mt 6:1 also Lk 6:29

RECIPIENT: To the disciples in the hearing of the crowds on the mountain,

Mt 5:1-2 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. ²He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying…

CONTEXT: A continuation of the Sermon on the Mount:

Mt 5:43-48 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷“If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ⁴⁸“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

COMMAND FULL TEXT AND IMMEDIATE RESULT:

Mt 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. ”

RESULT:

No stated result except for two chapters later when Jesus came down from the mountain

Mt 7:28-29; 8:1 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; ²⁹for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
¹When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him.

COMMENTS:

At first this command appears to contradict Matthew 5:16 “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” The current command is actually a complimentary instruction and I think it balances Matthew 5:16. It is about doing righteous (good) works in order to show-off how good I am. I can do a good deed to receive the praise of people or I can do it in a way so that people give their praise to God. I think that my human nature is prone to brag about how good I am! The intended result of who gets the credit makes all the difference.

Here are other Bible verses that are relevant to the subject of “practicing your righteousness.”

Lk 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure — pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Ep 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

1 Tm 6:18 {Instruct them} to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

The morning after Jesus had performed a great miracle by feeding a crowd of thousands with only five barley loaves and two fish some of the crowd went looking for Him in order to receive another free meal.

Jn 6:24-26 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. ²⁵When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” ²⁶Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”

DEFINITIONS: Key Greek Words – Removes ambiguity of the Bible text

beware: G4337 προσέχω pros-ekh’-ō — to pay attention, be cautious

righteousness: G1654 ἐλεημοσύνη el-eh-ay-mos-oo’-nay — mercy, pity, specifically alms

before: G1715 ἔμπροσθεν em’-pros-then — before, in front of in place or time

men: G444 ἄνθρωπος anth’-ro-pos — people

noticed: G2300 θεάομαι theh-ah’-om-ahee — to behold, look upon

MY PERSONAL APPLICATION: I encourage you to make your own application and please share it in the comments

When I demonstrate acts of kindness or mercy and when I give to charity or to an individual do not, in general, make a public show of it in order to receive public praise. Help in a way that is beneficial to the recipient, does not result in dependency and any praise given by the recipients is given to God or perhaps to an organization.

See also Matthew 6:2, 3 next week

RETURN TO COMMAND

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB

Please share a comment, question or perhaps another application for this command of Jesus.