All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players
Thus starts the famous monologue by Jaques in Acts II Scene VII of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”
The truth is, people are watching you.
Why you do something is important.
Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding.
Matt 6
When we pray, we pray with simplicity and sincerity. Communicate your heart to God, don’t worry about the words.
When you give, keep it between yourself and God.
But here’s the trick, the answer to not doing things publicly, is to STILL DO THEM IN PRIVATE!
How many people decry the “charity” of others who do it for the credit, for the tax break, for (whatever reason).
Sure, they might not have pure motives, but more often than not, the person being critical don’t even give 3% of their income to their local church (let alone a tithe).
Hello, Pot, you’re black too.
Be sure you do pray, you do need to spend time with God, speaking to him, every day. It becomes easier to criticize someone else’s public spirituality when our own is slipping.
This week at Crossroads we’ll be talking about Mary’s (Lazarus’ sister) extravagant gift to Jesus. She didn’t care who saw, she didn’t do it to look good, she did it because Jesus is worthy.
Don’t draw attention to yourself, but don’t “hide” either… they are opposite sides of the same coin. Don’t think about yourself, what you’ve lost by giving, think about who you are giving to.
At Crossroads, you don’t give TO the church, you give THROUGH the church!
