Beware

"Beware" is not a word that it's easy to think about Jesus saying all that much. However, it does seem like a word that we should pay attention to. In Matthew 6, Jesus warns us about living for Him for the wrong reasons. Look at Matthew 6:1-4:

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others.”

Essentially, Jesus is warning us to not miss the point of living for Him. I think it’s easy for us to start doing things for Jesus because of the way that WE look at people. How do you evaluate the faith of other people? How do you spot the good Christians and the bad ones? How do you evaluate a "super Christian?"

Do you ever find yourself evaluating someone's faith by their deeds? Of course you do! We see people who do all the right things, pray good prayers, and go on all the mission trips, and we assume they are "good Christians." Sometimes we can think they are better than us.

And because we want to be good Christians too, we try to act the way we think we’re supposed to! And we end up doing exactly what Jesus warns us not to do! We try to make sure that people know how many good things we’re doing for Jesus. We try to make all the right choices in order for people to know that we are one of the good ones! Jesus is saying that this is the way of hypocrites– people who really want you to think that they are something that they aren't.

So what does that mean? Should we hide the good things that we do for Christ? Are we only supposed to only repent in secret? I don't think so. Jesus doesn't say it is wrong for people to see you praying, but it is wrong to pray to be seen. When we pray to be seen, who is at the center? We are. In those moments, we're not praying to have a relationship with our Savior, but we are selfishly hoping that people can see us and are impressed. That's not how it works. When we pray, we're should focus on God and not ourselves.

This is exactly what Jesus is pushing us to do. Something amazing happens when we really believe the Gospel: we stop placing ourselves in the center of our lives, and we begin to place Jesus at the center. That is the whole motion of the Christian life. As we begin to realize what Jesus has done for us, He becomes the center. Our lives are no longer about constructing something to make us look good, it's about following Him!

It is easy to struggle with placing yourself in the center of your own life. We're pretty big fans of ourselves; we like to boast. We like to think we're pretty great, and we don't want other people to miss out on that. But we must realize that our good deeds are not elevating ourselves, but they are a response to what Christ has done. Not only do we need to stop trying to impress everyone else, but also that we have to stop being so impressed with ourselves.

If you struggle with that, look to the cross. See Jesus dying for you and realize that He is paying the debt for your sins. In humility, accept His forgiveness. In response, live for Him.