October 23, 2017 - Why Do You Do What You Do?

Last week I began a series of devotions for our staff/students at Statesville Christian School about PRIDE… Our mascot is the Lions and I was hoping to get the point across that we need to be in unity by taking PRIDE… a Personal Responsibility In Daily Environment.

Yet the word pride can obviously be a dangerous thing as well… when one is seeking self-gain or the spotlight on himself, he can easily lose sight of “team” and ruin unity!

Last week JR Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers admitted that he was best suited for playing on the 2^nd unit of the Cavs… that the 2^nd unit allowed him to more fully use his skill set to help the team. But he was angry that he wasn’t in the starting line-up… In other words, he seems more concerned with hearing his name in the introductions and looking up to see his face on the jumbotron than in doing what is best for his team.

In sport it is very common to strive to be a standout… yet I often write about how sport is simply a microcosm of life; and the truth is that even “the American dream” is a pursuit of getting noticed… but I don’t think the American dream is the Biblical dream.

Here is how I finished the school devotion… I think it is appropriate for all of us:

For the believer I think it goes even deeper… the pursuit of excellence to put the spotlight on God is a good thing; the pursuit of excellence to put the spotlight on oneself is a bad thing…

I have spent the last few days challenging each of you to step up and BE THE CHANGE in our culture… to be a DIFFERENCE-MAKER… Yet with a challenge there is also a caution… BE CAREFUL WHY YOU DO WHAT YOU DO! If you are doing things for the wrong reasons, you will easily get frustrated and angry when the spotlight doesn’t shine on what you are doing.

Matthew 23 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, ² saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat…  5 But all their works they do to be seen by men. ⁶ They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues... ¹¹ But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Here’s the way Eugene Peterson put it in The Message paraphrase:

Matthew 23 ^11-12 “Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.

Matthew 6 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. ² Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly

From the Message: Matthew 6 “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding. ^2-4 “When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—‘play actors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get. When you help someone out, don’t think about how it looks. Just do it—quietly and unobtrusively. That is the way your God, who conceived you in love, working behind the scenes, helps you out.

BE HUMBLE TODAY!