Sometime after Easter, I decided to start reading through the Gospels again, and I began in Matthew. I got to Matthew 6:5 and something struck me and grabbed me... A simple verse that itched somewhere in the back of my subconscious, requesting my attention...
"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others."
Now, my whole life, I have never once seen someone in church or on the street corner praying loudly for attention or to present an appearance of spirituality. But that got me to thinking that fallen human nature doesn't change much over time, but society and culture does...
So I wonder if this doesn't still happen... Maybe people still DO stand on street corners and pray loudly for attention? Maybe I'm just blind to it? Maybe... maybe I do that??? And suddenly this simple verse I had scarcely glanced at before caused me to look deeper at myself and the world around me. And where before I hadn't seen it, looking again, I saw evidence that maybe this is still happening... But the primary venue it takes place at now is through the Internet and social media. In a way, social media has become our street corner. It is where people gather and mingle. It's where we speak and present our worldview to others. And how often do we tweet or write status updates with just a Christian song lyric, or a verse of Scripture, or repeat some other Christian witticism?
Firstly, I'll say that this isn't inherently bad. Secondly, I will admit that I am guilty of this. If a particular song, or verse, or phrase from a book or sermon catches my heart, I'll often quote it. Knowing that I do this, I challenged myself to examine why. And my conclusion was that most often, my posts are because I am impacted by the love/majesty/grace of God and I just want others to see Him like I do. Or I may think that the particular quote would be encouraging to others. When I'm most impacted by God, it's generally from a place of humility (and often brokenness) before Him. So I'm not trying to blast or judge anyone who is openly spiritual in the social media venue. There's nothing anything inherently wrong with spirituality on social media. I'm just challenging us all (including myself) to think before we step out on that street corner...
Who is this for?
Why are we saying it?
Will people benefit from this?
What is my purpose in posting this?
Because if it's not for God's glory...
if we're not saying it to worship Him...
if our friends and followers won't be uplifted or impacted by it...
and our purpose isn't the advancement of Christ's Kingdom...
Well then maybe we'd be better off saying nothing at all. Maybe we're doing it to be seen. Maybe we're just an obnoxious clanging cymbal making too much noise.
Maybe we're just praying loudly on the street corner...
Good, good stuff.
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