"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."
The words of Christ, as quoted in Matthew 6:1, The Bible, New International Version.
Now, if you look at the King James, it specifies the giving of alms, rather than the NIV's "acts", which could be used by those of us* who are more vocal in our protestations of how right we are with God and how wrong others are. But then, keep reading, and I think it's pretty clear that the NIV's translation works as a summing up of the tone of the Sermon (or at least part of it). And it fits in nicely with my own personal view that the commandment not to "take God's name in vain" has nothing to do with saying something like "goddammit", but is more likely to claim God's favor as your own without having any better proof of that than your own interpretation of what God "wants".
* and by "us" I mean "Jesus-'loving' Republicans"
Thursday, March 08, 2012
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