I’ve been privileged to be in the teaching rotation in our College and Young Singles class as we’ve been exploring the Sermon on the mount. Today we were on Matthew 6:1-18. My notes, if you’re interested, are here. An excerpt:
6:1 “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.
This statement sets up the rest of this section. The key phrase is “to be seen by them”. This passage is not to be mistaken as a contradiction to the “let your light shine before men” command in chapter five. Both have as their aim the same thing – glory to God, rather than to us.
In context, this follows directly after the holy life described by Christ in chapter five. Jesus knows our hearts; the first sin we commit once we’ve achieved any measure of righteousness is pride. This passage offers a corrective to our pride.