We’ve all seen the social media posts where someone has decided to pay for someone’s meal in the drive thru. We’ve all likely seen a news story where someone has been doing random acts of kindness in the community. If you haven’t seen either, you must be new to the internet. I distinctly recall a news story where a couple would go to local targets and Walmarts and leave cash in boxes of diapers and under the lids of formula. On the surface it seems like a noble and admirable thing to do, but the more I thought about this particular act of kindness the more it didn’t settle well with me. As someone who exhibits signs of ADHD, I naturally overanalyze every little detail of life and it usually takes me down the most cynical paths. As I began thinking about these people dropping money in baby products for struggle mothers, it deeply disturbed me that it was a news story that would be broadcasted across the city. What could have been left unsaid or not broadcasted across an entire community, is now being shared in every household in town and has taken an act of kindness from a gift to a potential treasure hunt. Anyone who saw that news story could easily make it a side quest whenever they are at the store to swing by the baby formula aisle and lift the lids to check for extra cash. If you are thinking that that kind of depravity doesn’t exist and people in general are better than that, then that is the second sign that you are new to the internet.
Have You Been There?
The question becomes this: Do we do kind things for the pat on the back or do we do them because it is our satisfaction to serve people? I don’t know a single person who would honestly and audibly answer that question with the former. It’s never publicly viewed as a positive if we are doing things simply for the notoriety or for people to praise us. If that’s the case, then why do we feel inclined to share the times we decide to go out of our way to do something nice so often? Also, what does that say about us as a person if we have to share the moments we are kind to someone? The answers to those questions can be nuanced (just like most everything else), but for the most part we could probably sum up it all up into a tidy little bow with this: We desire people’s consistent approval through convenient acts of kindness more than we desire to be consistently kind to people even when its inconvenient. In other words, we want people to think so highly of us that we share the very few small acts of kindness when it requires no sacrifice or interaction, yet we fail to live a lifestyle that interacts with people on a level to find out how we can actually help.
Jerry Rice, one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play in the NFL, was once asked about touchdown celebrations. He discussed how ridiculous he felt the first couple of times he scored while trying to find his identity and then made the decision to just hand the ball to the official. What he said has stuck with me for years: “Just act like you’ve been there.” What Jerry Rice was trying to relay was if you’ve made a habit of scoring a lot of touchdowns, then what makes this one so special? The same could be said about how we decide to be kind to people. When we are kind and built a lifestyle of being kind, why does this particular time need to be celebrated? Why does this one deserve more attention? Whether you spend 1 dollar of a thousand dollars, we should not feel the need to draw attention to ourselves based on how much time or money we have given. This is where we can look at the Bible and see where we can grow in this area, because every single one of us is guilty of this in some way.
Choose Your Reward
Matthew 6:1-4 is specifically talking about practicing righteousness. It is safe to place acts of kindness in this category because it is easy to translate righteousness in this passage to charity or mercy. An act of kindness is a charity to someone. It is an act of mercy toward someone. This set of verses says to be careful practicing it before others. In fact, it says to not make a deal out of it and announce it before others as if a parade needs to be had for your efforts. The reason why should give us a pretty solid idea of why it is frowned upon by God: “You will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Simply put, the Bible allows us to see into the heart of God when we feel inclined to announce what a wonderful thing we’ve done for someone. His Word says that the only reward you will get is from man. It may please them, but it doesn’t necessarily please Him. Matthew 7 (the climax of one of the reasons I believe Matthew 6:1-4 is discussed) has an account of a man telling The Lord in judgement about all the wonderful things he has done on earth. This man was likely seen as a good man among the people, but The Lord knew his heart and knew if the man desired praise from men or rewards from God. With life shattering perfection in holy justice, The Lord said, “Away from me you evildoer, for I know you not.”
Could you imagine getting all the notoriety in the world from your peers and being seen as a good person among the people, but because your motives were not to please God and instead to maneuver yourself into a position of praise among men, you were denied fellowship with Almighty God? This should shake us to our core when we stop and ask ourselves why we do things. This should seriously stop professing Christians dead in our tracks and allow us to meditate on why we do the things we do. If we “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” when we show acts of kindness to others, we have made it our sole purpose in doing them to glorify God instead of glorifying self.
Pray For A Change
Friends, it is definitely best to do things instead of being seen doing them. Our souls are worth more than notoriety. Our eternity is worth more than a few seconds of praise. Our fellowship with The Lord is more life giving than a few likes on social media. Build a life of being kind and you will never need the world to know you are kind, because your silent acts of kindness will be felt among others and you will have no need to tell anyone because God will bless your heart to know that He sees it all, and He WILL reward you.
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