Secret city on a hill
Often in Scripture we have to harmonize two passages which seem to present some kind of conflict with each other. Today I would like to present one such conflict, one with which I’ve struggled over the years.
In the fifth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says:
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” – Matthew 5:14-16
So, we’re supposed to let our light shine before others. Got it. Yet…in the next chapter it says…
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” – Matthew 6:1-4
So we should let our light shine….but only in secret? Hmm….
I’ve had people ask me about these two passages before and I have given them an answer, providing some distinctions between each of these passages, but today I’d like to turn the question over to you. How do we reconcile these two passages? What is Jesus trying to teach us? And if we follow His teaching here, what does it practically look like?
Have you ever met a genuinely good person? Someone that you just know has a good soul? They’re few and far between. But the few I’ve met are uncompromisingly solid in their faith, without the need to shout it from the rooftops. They’re secure enough in their faith, they don’t need to constantly prove it to others. Without a doubt, that is a person of faith whose good actions light up the world, without beating the not-so-good over the head with the “holier-than-thou” mace. Not every conversation came back around to the gifts of the Holy Spirit and not every good thing ended with a twenty minute lecture on Our Lords Providence.
I know a lot of people who are good, holy people who wear there faith on their sleeve (or on their lifeteen t-shirt). This is good. I think if we mature past the stage of having to defend our personal beliefs and carry our faith in a manner that commands (vs demands) respect, that’s when we can fill both sides of that little conundrum.
I’m going to keep working on it in myself, I’ll let you know how it goes in another 50 years or so.
Jesus is saying, be the light for all to see, but don’t be doing it to get attention. Do it because it is who you are. You don’t need to brag about being good, about doing good.
It’s like the Pharisee in the front of the church “praising” God for his own “good deeds”. The Pharisee saying he is good because of following the law. But Jesus says they are hypocrites because they “act” like that so that other people will praise them for being good.
Be the light for Jesus, but don’t brag about it. Be the salt of the earth, but don’t tell everyone that you are seasoning the world.
It’s the whole, “Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary, use words.”
When someone is doing God’s Will because they love Jesus and want to follow Him, that person will “glow” with their faith. Their very example will be light that people are drawn too and that person didn’t have to say a single “Look at me, look at me! I’m doing God’s Will.” It was all done in secret for the love of God and that love makes the person glow.
The answer is simple. Practise your faith not to be seen, but so that God might be seen.
The Pharisees often did good works so that THEY might be congratulated for it. Christ asks us to shine before men not so WE can be seen, but so that GOD can be seen.
“Practise your faith not to be seen, but so that God might be seen.”
ooooh…I like that. Thanks Tarkan, and welcome to Restless Pilgrim!
Ok here is how this speaks to me, “let your light shine” speaks to me of getting on with doing the things you should be doing and because you are in the light it gets seen, and because we are the light, because we are told we are. the that light shines around and is shared.
Then, Be careful not to practice YOUR righteousness, who righteousness are we walking in… NOT ours but His righteousness. so it takes it from us to HIM.
Thanks for your input 🙂
In the first chapter he is talking to the community and about the community: its relation, place and role with and within the world. In the second chapter he is talking to the members of the community about principles, behavior and relations between individuals within the community.
Thanks for sharing Damir, and welcome to Restless Pilgrim! 🙂