Seen by men

I think there has been an ungodly act that has subtly, or maybe innocently plagued the church, believers and followers of the CEO. "Ungodly" as in "opposite of what is expected or commanded for followers". Somewhere along the journey, followers have traveled the path of doing righteous acts or giving to the poor in full view of their peers, or just in front of "man". Bare with me as I try to explain this...

What got me thinking about this subject more and more are some of the TV shows that air at Obi-Wan's house daily. Obviously, there are plenty of ill-willed talk shows and court TV shows that mock humanity. So I won't go into that. But the flip side is a handful of shows that bring some kind of positive humanity to TV, even though this humanity is manufactured (think Oprah, Dr. Phil, etc as opposed to Maury, Springer, etc).

On Sunday nights there is an hour long show dedicated to building or remodeling a house for some family in a devastating situation. I think it's called Extreme Home Makeover or something. In comparison to all the crap and stupidity on TV, Home Makeover is probably a welcome change. Far better than Big Brother VI (or as I renamed, Big Cleavage).

A month or so after the hurricane mess on the gulf, shows like Oprah & Dr. Phil were demonstrating "do-gooder" stuff like giving away furnished homes to people who lost theirs. Of course, the people had to have a good devastating story for TV, etc. But they got a free home out of the deal. And, like I said, compared to all the other tripe on TV, this is a fresh breath. Something positive.

But as these big TV personalities flaunt their influential power and benevolence on their shows and the audience applauded, I heard the voice of the CEO: "This is not my way".

By hearing "the voice of the CEO" I don't mean an audible, James Earl Jones voice saying, "Agent B...this is not MY way...thus sayeth ME". By hearing the voice, I mean: right at that moment during the TV show I remembered the first 4 verses of Matthew 6 in The Book. And I trust that The Book is from and inspired by the CEO. Thus, his voice. But I do believe the CEO can talk to us in an audible voice if he so chooses (I heard it faintly a couple of times before).

These writings in Matthew 6 are pretty clear-cut and dry. I'm no doctrinal debater and thus, wouldn't know what the actual Hebrew or Greek was "really" referring to in Matthew 6. I just assume that my English, NIV translation is what it is when it reads "don't announce your gifts to the poor like the hypocrites" and thus do it "in secret".

Well, big deal. So Dr. Phil and a bunch of other TV yahoos do good stuff for people and make a heavily produced TV show about it and pat themselves on the back. Why would I care? I don't know anything about Dr. Phil and the others. Maybe they know or don't know the CEO. And it's not like they're exploiting the poor and ignorant like Maury & Springer and Divorce Court.

My observation and thus, my hearing the James Earl Jones voice of the CEO is about us: the followers or the church (whether it is a corporation or a body of believers). I'm sure we followers of Jesus do good things "in secret", and therefore, no one else knows about them. Right on. But so many times the church corporately as well as individual followers present their acts before a public audience. As if they are saying, "YAY! Look what we did! Yay us!!". I'm not trying to pour water on the rallying fire of followers who band together to build someone a house. Those kind of pep rally atmospheres can be fun. I'm mainly looking through this word from the CEO as, "why the hell do you go to the local news media, write about it in your newsletters, and brag to those outside your church or household about your acts of righteousness?"

Are a few pats on the back worth tossing out a reward for later?