Anonymous

from Matthew 6:1-4

"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, 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 men. I tell you the truth, 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."

Some people I know who aren't part of a church, as far as I know, decided to go in together to shop and give Thanksgiving dinners to needy families this year. As a group we have no real identity.

So that got me thinking about this passage - anonymous, secret. If we give to people and make sure they know which church we come from or even who we are for that matter . . . If we give or do anything under our church logo or even "in the name of the Lord". . . (though, I understand. That's the ultimate goal) Have we done what this passage in Matthew tells us to do? Have we given in secret?

The child in me always liked the idea of God seeing and knowing in secret and knowing that He would reward me for the good things He saw me doing, especially if nobody else knew. Knowing He always knew the bad, and it wouldn't stay a secret, made me pretty careful about my choices.