HAVE been watching with curious interest my younger daughter’s little baby on its road to discovery: As she slowly starts discovering those loose appendages that seem to be always around, belong to her. Suddenly she discovers that the strange items that always accidentally hit her face and carry ten strange protrusions are actually her two hands and at a certain stage she can control them, and they needn’t ever hit her face anymore! What delights her is that she has ‘control’ over them. That both hands act according to her will, and also in accordance with each other!
But hearken to this, Christ, while explaining the act of generosity or giving, wanted that same mutual knowledge or understanding between hands to be taken away, He went on to say, “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.” (Matthew 6:3-4 ESV). Of course, hands, as my little granddaughter found out, do not have a mind of their own, and a person cannot really hide something in one hand without the other hand knowing about it. Jesus’ illustration makes use of hyperbole—purposeful exaggeration to make a point. We should perform our charitable giving with such confidentiality that, if possible, our right hand won’t even know what the left hand is giving. In other words, we should maintain an extremely low profile and secrecy when giving gifts and performing acts of mercy.Modesty, not ostentation, is the hallmark of a follower of Christ.
Jesus’ illustration of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing follows His serious condemnation of “hypocrites,” in the previous verse: “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 others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full” Matthew 6:2
So Jesus is quite clear about the act of giving and even more clearer when he says that the reason people announce it is, ‘to be honoured by others!’ What honour do they seek? Recognition maybe! A place on boards and trusts! So, on and so forth!
But here’s the thing! What about we others who condemn other unchristian acts but remain silent or even encourage these people, what about them? Even as we collectively condemn acts like the burning of churches and transgressions against members of the faith, we need to remember that just as charity begins at home, we also need to chastise our own people and duly tell them to allow their right hand to give without the left blowing a trumpet of announcements! Their announcements are as disgraceful as our encouraging silence, and believe you me this is Biblical…!
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