Caught In The Middle
Lesson 10

Lesson Ten

Motives, Not Check List

Texts: Matthew 6:1-18; 7:21-27

How does a Christian individual correctly solve ethical dilemmas that occur within the framework of biblical teaching? Before you quickly declare, "That cannot happen!" recognize factually that it does happen.

(1) Are Christians to be tolerant of each other? Read 1 Corinthians 8:7-13. Yes! What a person ate was a major spiritual issue with many Jewish Christians (Leviticus 11). Dietary codes were an important spiritual matter with Israelites for generations.

Also, a conscientious Jewish family did not dare eat something sacrificed to an idol. To eat of the sacrifice was an act of worship (see Exodus 34:12-16; 1 Samuel 1:4, 5). Since eating part of the sacrifice was an act of worshipping the gods or God to whom the sacrifice was offered, a Jewish Christian would not eat from sacrificial meat offered to an idol. What to us seems a moot point was a real, live issue in the first century church. Many Christian Jews clashed with many Christian gentiles. Read Acts 15 and especially note verses 1-3, 5, and 19-29.

Was eating any type of meat (like pork) wrong? No! Consider 1 Timothy 4:1-5.

Yet, Paul said he would be a vegetarian if his eating meat offended a Christian for whom Christ died. That is an incredible act of tolerance! Consider Romans 14:1-12 and 20-23.

(2) Is there a time and a point when error in a Christian must be confronted and condemned? Consider Paul's statements in 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 and 2 Timothy 1:15-18; 2:14-18; and 4:9-18 and John's statement in 3 John 9,10. Yes!

The dilemma: when do you show tolerance and make personal sacrifices AND when do you confront and condemn? Do not think all Christians in a congregation hold the same conclusion in situations where the evidence is subject to personal interpretation. When one Christian is convinced toleration is in order, another Christian thinks condemnation is in order. The ethics of the situation clash as each perspective quotes scripture.

In our first text (Matthew 6:1-18), Jesus referred to three acts of righteous behavior understood and accepted in Jewish society: giving alms (benevolent acts), praying personal prayers, and fasting (deliberately refusing to eat). These three things were so accepted as expressions of righteousness that they were not debated. Righteous people did these things.

Jesus did not question these acts as appropriate expressions of righteousness. However, Jesus focused on the motive causing the act rather than merely doing the act. He began with a caution. He said plainly if the motive was incorrect, the act was meaningless to God. If a person was motivated to do the act to receive public acclaim from people, and the person received the public notice sought, then the person received no reward from God. He got what he wanted when he received public acclaim. God did not need to respond to the act and would not.

Instead, perform your private acts of devotion to God secretly. God sees secretly done acts (even if no person sees them). The God who sees in secret will reward such acts because the motive of the act is to honor God, not to receive the attention of people. The notice of humans does not open God's eyes. The point: do what you do to honor God, not to capture public praise. Or, why you do what you do is as important as what you do. To God, motives matter. Give careful attention to your motives and not just your acts. Do right things for right reasons.

In the second text (Matthew 7: 21-27), Jesus addressed a major weakness among the religious in all ages. The question Jesus addressed: "Why do we seek spiritual knowledge?" In his answer, he stressed two realities. (1) Make certain that what you know is in keeping with God's will. (2) Know to do; do not know merely to evaluate others' lives or to place confidence in your knowledge. Knowledge of a disaster is useless if it does not prepare a person to face the disaster!

Prophesying in the Lord's name; casting out demons in the Lord's name; and doing miracles in the Lord's name were good things IF they reflected the will of God. How could such things possibly occur if they were not acts devoted to God? Consider Acts 19:11-17 and 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12.

The objective of having knowledge of God's ways is not to practice a false righteousness or to pass condemnation on others. We know in order to follow God's ways. We know in order that we might do. Knowledge is not a spiritual destination. Knowledge is an avenue to a spiritual destination.

Do right things for right reasons. Know to do.

For Thought and Discussion:

  1. With what question does this lesson begin?

  2. How long had a dietary code been important to the Jewish people?

  3. What would the conscientious Jewish family not dare eat? Why?

  4. Was eating any type of meat wrong? Explain your answer.

  5. How tolerant toward other Christians was Paul?

  6. Is there a point when Christians must be confronted and condemned? Explain your answer.

  7. Explain the dilemma.

  8. What were three common expressions of righteous behavior in the first century?

  9. What did Jesus focus on?

  10. What was Jesus' caution?

  11. How should personal acts of devotion to God be performed? Why?

  12. What is a major weakness among the religious in all ages?

  13. Knowledge is not a spiritual                            ; it is an                             to a spiritual destination.


Link to Teacher's Guide Lesson 10

Copyright © 2007, 2008
David Chadwell & West-Ark Church of Christ

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