In my earlier years as a radio presenter I would struggle a lot when I went somewhere and they did not recognize me or the work I was doing. Didn’t they know who I was? Didn’t they know that I was doing this great work for the Lord and many lives were being changed? I wanted people to clap and cheer, I thought I was something great something worth celebrating how dare they not recognize that. As I continue to mature in this space that is driven by ratings and seeking to have the most numbers, I always ask myself a question that brings me back into focus every time I am tempted to go off the rails.
“Why do you do what you do? What is your motive?”
Matthew 23:5
5 They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their [b]phylacteries (tefillin) wide [to make them more conspicuous] and make their [c]tassels long.
A hypocrite is one who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion. They project one thing yet they are really another. It is a spirit that seeks to deceive.
Why are you doing what you do? As I was pointing a finger at the Pharisees I saw myself in them. The bible says that the motive behind what they did was so that they would be seen by men. They would make the small cases containing scripture passages, worn on the left arm and the forehead (phylacteries ) wider so that they would be noticed by men giving the perception that they were really holy yet their hearts were full of wickedness.
We sometimes find ourselves doing something in order to be seen and recognized. Like the Pharisees though on the outside it seems like we are doing a good thing, the motive behind it is rotten. Jesus called them white washed tombs, white on the outside but inside they are full of dead men’s bones. We do it because we want to be seen and when we are not recognized then we become offended. We take the glory and it is no longer about God but us.
In a world that is being driven through social media we have to be careful to always ask why we do what we do. Are we doing it for likes and comments or are we doing it to glorify God. If we don’t get any kind of recognition or applause would we still do what we do? What if the people you are doing it for don’t reciprocate? Would you still do it?
God is challenging us to do the right thing with the right motive. That in representing Him we ensure that our motives are in the right place.
Why are you doing what you do and whom are you doing it for?
