Remaining Unseen

by Katie Harding on October 25, 2021

Have you ever done something, seen someone, or visited someplace, and your first thought is “I need to post this on Facebook”? Sometimes it’s the foods we eat, the places we go, the people we see, or the things we do. Our first instinct is to post. Change happens when we rewire our brain by creating a new habit — choosing a different response to our initial instinct. This is what I have been trying to do after re-reading Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:1-21 earlier this year.

It’s easy to miss the main point of this passage because we often focus on the individual topics Jesus mentioned — giving, praying, fasting and treasures. In fact, we can probably recite some of His thoughts by heart. When you give, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. When you pray, don’t stand on the street corner like the hypocrites, but go into your closet and close the door. When you fast, don’t put on a gloomy face so others see you are fasting. And store up your treasures in heaven where moths and rust can’t destroy or thieves break in and steal.

Yet, when this passage is read in entirety and placed in context, we see that how we give, pray, fast or store our treasures was not the main point Jesus was trying to convey. His main point was addressed in the very first verse. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your father who is in heaven.” He didn’t say don’t practice your righteousness before men or you won’t have the reward of your father in heaven. But don’t practice before men to be noticed by them. The whole passage is about our motives, why we do what we do.

Do we practice our faith to be seen by others and receive their praise? If we are honest with ourselves, we probably have to answer that question with, “Yes, sometimes.” When is the last time we made dinner for a friend or baked for neighbors and didn’t tell a soul? We like it when others notice the good we are doing.

But Jesus was instructing those on the mountain that day, and us as well, not to practice their faith, “in order to be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.” He was saying if our motive is to be seen by others to gain their approval, then we have received what we wanted (our reward) when we are recognized for good we have done. Instead, if our motive is the action itself (not the recognition) then “…your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” We don’t worry about being seen by others.

Jesus said that it’s a matter of deciding where we want to store up our treasures (our rewards), in the eyes of men or the heart of God.

A great question to ask ourselves when we want to post or text something good we’ve done is, “Why do I want to share this?” In other words, what is my motive? Is it about what I can get from others? Do I want to be seen by them to gain their approval? Or is it about what I can give to others? Is my purpose to share an experience or bring others joy?

Sharing everything has become such a habit that we don’t even think to question our motives, but let us start today. We can change our habits as God changes our hearts. It’s the work of transformation. It sounds simple, but it’s not easy. As we put our faith into practice, if we find our motive is to be seen, let us pause and pray and seek contentment in remaining unseen. May we rest in the fact that God sees us and that is enough.