“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 2 Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Matthew 6:1-4 ESV
I’ve been riding a bike for almost 35 years. When I get ready to hit the trails, I grab my
helmet, my gear, my bike, and I just go. When I jump on my mountain bike, I don’t think about how to pedal or steer or how to jump over an obstacle. It just happens. It’s muscle memory. It’s literally “like riding a bike.”
People who get really good at anything keep reproducing the experience over and over
again consciously. They do it so many times consciously, that it becomes subconscious. The continuous repetition of any action will neurochemically condition your body and mind to begin to work as one. And when you’ve done something so many times that your body now knows how to do it better than your conscious mind, you’ve mastered that knowledge. It becomes a state of being. You don’t even know how you do it any longer, you just do it. Your left hand no longer knows what your right hand is doing. It’s a secret to even you. It’s automatic. It’s natural. It’s innate in you. You become it.
Time and time again in the sermon on the mount, Jesus is calling us to become Kingdom
people. People who are being transformed to their core. Whether it is in giving, in generosity, in hospitality, in loving, in the words you say, in honoring relationships, Jesus addresses all of these core issues. The Kingdom is here, and this is what Kingdom people look like. People who go from philosopher, to initiate, to master. From knowledge, to experience, to wisdom. From mind, to body, to soul. From thinking, to doing, to being. To learning it with your head, applying it with your hands, and knowing it by heart. And when you’ve mastered it, you’ll wear it. You’ll clothe yourself in it. Some might even say, you’re a new person.
Boo Scott, Lead Minister at NPC