(Mat 5:16) "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

(Mat 6:1) "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."

Both verses speak of doing your acts "before men." But only 6:1 adds "to be seen by them." 6:1 parallels 6:2,

(Mat 6:2) "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 men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full."

Here the key phrase is "to be honored by men," paralleling "to be seen by them."

6:1 condemns doing works for your own glory, rather than God's glory. 5:16 encourages us to bring glory to God by doing good works. Peter expands on the thought —

(1 Pet 2:12) Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

The trick is figuring how to shine the spotlight on God. I don't have the answers. For example, our church gives food to the needy, serving thousands over the course of a year. Do we call the local paper so the world can see our good deeds and glorify God? Or would that be the same thing Jesus condemns in Matt 6:1-2?

It rather depends on our motivations, I think — and we can easily fool ourselves. I mean, you have to willing to say to the reporter, "It's not about me or even this church. This is God's work." More precisely, the goal can't be to compete with other churches. You can't set the Kingdom at war with itself! The goal has to be to attract the world to God's light.

We can't avoid the problem by refusing all publicity. Nor can we start bringing reporters with us everywhere we go. Rather, we have to prayerfully search our hearts and our motives and do whatever we can to bring God's light to our communities — even through the media when it can be done appropriately.

Furthers thoughts are at http://oneinjesus.info/2008/01/02/church-growth-t…