A question relevant to Matthew 6

[HeWept]

Many if not most versions of this chapter talk about the difference between doing things because they are righteous and doing things because they will look righteous.

However, a question arises in my mind when we consider situations where there are shades of nuance between what is righteous and what is not righteous.

Suppose you did something good thinking it would make you look good but it ended up giving you infamy instead, or suppose you did something bad thinking it would give you infamy (maybe as a form of attack) only for it to give you good fame, or suppose you did something anticipating a specific mix of fame and infamy depending on the individual.

How does the teaching manifest in those cases?

 

[zippy2006]

Suppose you did something good thinking it would make you look good but it ended up giving you infamy instead, or suppose you did something bad thinking it would give you infamy (maybe as a form of attack) only for it to give you good fame, or suppose you did something anticipating a specific mix of fame and infamy depending on the individual.

Jesus is saying not to do things for the sake of appearances. Instead, do things because they ought to be done, whether or not anyone sees you doing them. The chapter does not seem to have anything to say about the question you are asking, namely the scenario where something done for the sake of one appearance produces an opposite appearance.

 

[com7fy8]

Suppose you did something good thinking it would make you look good but it ended up giving you infamy instead,

Well, Jesus does say not to do something in order to be seen by people, right? So, if you did this in order to make yourself look good, yes you would be doing it in order to be seen by people. And so, then, do not be surprised if it backfires, since it does not have God's approval.

"'He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.'" (John 12:25)

How might this work? Jesus says not to do things to look good to people. And if you do, possibly you are loving your own life that you want. And so, if you are disobeying Jesus, by loving your own life, then the spirit of disobedience is causing you to disobey Him > there is >

"the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience," we have in Ephesians 2:2.

And as we do things in disobedience, then, we are operating in Satan's kingdom so we are magnets for bad things. Plus, of course, it can be bad if we get approval of worldly people.

In any case, many people are loving their own lives, and this is why they are losing their lives in different ways . . . not only dying, but losing things and people in their lives, and losing emotionally. Often enough, they are ruining things, their own selves, because in their disobedient spirit they can not be creative in love like we can in Jesus. And the consequences are not fair > they can suffer much more and lose much more than they might deserve > because sinning in Satan's kingdom is not fair > no sin is safe, then.

or suppose you did something bad thinking it would give you infamy (maybe as a form of attack) only for it to give you good fame, or suppose you did something anticipating a specific mix of fame and infamy depending on the individual.

Well, if it is bad . . . it is bad. It doesn't matter if things look good because of us. Because if you are operating in sin, you are deeply weak so that then or later you can suffer a lot. That weakness for pleasure and for things going your way is weakness making you ready to deeply suffer later, emotionally and even physically. So, no sin is safe! Any sin can help to maintain us in deep weakness, plus it has us missing out on how we could be loving with God . . . not just humanly and in weakness.

"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7)