Visible Invisibility: How to be the Church in the World

I believe that a big part of the Christian life is the amazing miracle of invisibility. No, I'm not confused by Hollywood sci-fi and those bad movies by Chevy Chase and Kevin Bacon but puzzled, confounded, and stretched by the words of Jesus who advocates for a generous invisibility. He warns

Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ~ Matthew 6:1-5

These words seem clear and I don't feel the need to belabor their point. Jesus is challenging a piety, all too familiar in his day and our own, of those whose main goal in practicing their faith is being seen and congratulated. The desire for such visibility is not to please God or care for others but to achieve some form of celebrity status. Let's be honest - we all know this temptation. In response, Jesus argues, we should practice our faith, particularly caring for the poor and prayer, secretly, without another's knowledge save God's. Apart from the difficulty of living out such a position, however are two related issues that deal directly with my job at the church which involves promoting gospel action and connecting people to to ministries and service organizations. One problem is biblical and the other practical. First, the biblical. Earlier in the sermon on the mount, where our invisible piety warning comes from, Jesus announces

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. ~ Matt. 5:14-16

The obvious question is, "how are we to shine and reveal God's glory like a city on a hill if we must also be secret to the point that our left hand does not know what our right hand is doing?" Second, the practical. If Jesus is advocating for an invisible piety then how can we promote particular ministries of giving and care without mentioning people and their stories? What are we to make of Christian witness and the offering of testimonies or even worship if such acts must only function privately? Yet, how are we to bear such witness while avoiding vain recognition?

These are important pastoral and theological questions which I can only briefly deal with now but here are a few thoughts. First,if we begin with the assumption that Jesus is neither being contradictory nor inconsistent, how might we reconcile these two passages? Well, first and foremost, we need to recognize that we are hampered here by our own language and its inability to differentiate between the second person singular and the second person plural, both indicated by the pronoun "you." The "city on a hill" passage reflects the second person plural while the "giving in secret" passage reflects the second person singular. To be corporately visible while singularly invisible is certainly tricky but hardly insurmountable. Despite its difficulties, surely Jesus is not sanctioning any visible absence of showing the love of God to those in need in the community. Second, if we return to Jesus' initial warning we see that he is not so much challenging visible piety but the practicing of piety "in order to be seen." The notion of intent does not resolve the problem but shifts it to the difficult arena of our inward lives and relationship to our community. Okay, so what practices might we advance to help navigate these two commands.

First, one of the goals of my position is to offer visible opportunities for invisibile service. This does not mean that I am interested in promoting particular personalities, but wanting to introduce members to acts of service that others have found meaningful. One of the ways that I hope to do this is through the sharing of stories by church members who are engaging the gospel in exciting ways and inviting some of us to participate. The point of the story is invitation and not self praise.
Second, my goal is to help us be accountable as a church to the mission of Jesus Christ. This is a mission that includes good news and justice for the poor, the hungry, the thirsty and so forth. Here, a helpful point of similarity is the role of treasurer who does not speak about individual tithing but overall giving. We are the body of Christ, we all have a task to perform and it is the body that should be visible. This means that when I go anywhere I am an emissary for the whole church just as many of you are when you serve others in Jesus' name on behalf of us. To visibly promote such tasks and service opportunities thus serves as a reminder of our desire to follow Jesus and that we do this together. We are accountable to one another as we seek to live out the gospel in the world. When we go into the world as the church then the visibility is about Him and we realize that we are small part in the mosaic of Jesus in the world. Then, we are visibly invisible.