Religious Clowns and Circus Performances (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18)

A childhood memory of the Ringling-era circus sets up a sharp question: what if the biggest show isn’t under a tent, but in our own religious habits? We take Jesus’ words in Matthew 6 seriously as he confronts the Pharisees and exposes a temptation that still feels painfully current: turning spiritual life into theater. The warning is simple and unsettling, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them.”

We unpack why Jesus uses terms tied to acting, masks, and performance. The problem isn’t that faith is visible; it’s that visibility becomes the goal. From giving that “sounds a trumpet” to prayers timed for the busiest street corners, to fasting that broadcasts misery for sympathy, each practice shows how easily good disciplines become a way to gain attention, approval, or a sense of superiority. Along the way, we talk about the subtle pressure to “measure up,” including how even Bible reading can become a brag instead of a joy.

We end with two questions that cut through the noise and bring spiritual clarity: What’s my motive, and who’s my audience? If you already have God’s love through Christ, you don’t have to prove anything. If God is the one you’re speaking to, serving for, and living before, you can drop the mask and breathe again. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who needs the reset, and leave a review with your answer: where do you feel the pull to perform most?

Learn more about twenty-five years of global impact, and reserve tickets to our gala. https://www.wisdomonline.org/mp/25

Learn more at https://www.wisdomonline.org/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:19

When I was a little boy, a traveling circus had become a household name. It made its way by train around our country. It even traveled overseas to other continents. It began as the Barnum and Bailey Circus, named after its founders P. T. Barnum and James Bailey. They would later merge with the Ringling Brothers, and back in 1919, this traveling circus began advertising itself as the greatest show on earth. Well, that circus would run from 1871

The Circus That Shaped A Childhood

SPEAKER_00 0:56

to 2017, and millions of people of all ages would go and enjoy the high flying acrobats. I remember the lion tamer and those elephants and the costumes and the overpriced popcorn, and of course, I remember the clowns. I remember when I went as a child that it was an in it was indeed an amazing show. You know what occurred to me as I've been studying with you this Sermon on the Mount on our wisdom journey? That famous three ring circus wasn't the greatest show on earth. Oh no, the greatest show on earth is worldwide. It's still going on every single day, putting on a show, doesn't have anything to do with animals, has everything to do with humans. The greatest show on earth is religion. Religion worldwide is quite a production, isn't it? It has more money, more pageantry, more costumes, and frankly more clowns

Religion As The Real Spectacle

SPEAKER_00 1:58

than ever. Well, there was a religious circus operating at full steam in Jesus' day. That circus had circus masters who were called Pharisees. Well, Jesus is about to reveal their religious facade. He's going to reveal their hidden motives as they gave and they prayed and they fasted. These three activities were considered essential religious duties in Judaism. And the Lord begins right away now here in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 1, condemning it. He says this beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. The verb here to be seen comes from the Greek word theathenai, which gives us the English word theater. So Jesus is saying, you know, don't put on a theater with your religious uh you know performances. The important issue isn't that people can see you, see your show, but that God sees you.

Theater, Masks, And Hidden Motives

SPEAKER_00 2:59

By the way, another key word here the Lord repeats in this passage is the word hypocrites that gives us our word hypocrite. It referred to an actor in Jesus' day who wore a mask in front of their face on stage. So the Lord is referring to hypocrites who hide behind a mask of spiritual performance. Jesus warns his audience here in verse two. When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, down in verse sixteen. And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. In other words, stop putting on a religious three ring circus. Stop putting on a public show. Now, Jesus isn't against public praying or giving or helping the needy. He just wants us to make sure that our heart attitude is putting God's glory on display and not our own. Now, let's stop for a moment and take a closer look at these three activities. And let's start where the Lord does with giving money here in verse two. Jesus says, When you give, don't sound the trumpet before you as the hypocrites do. I believe the Lord is referring here to the horn shaped receptacles along the wall over there in the court of the Gentiles where people slid in their donations. They were shaped like the flared end of a trumpet cut in half and attached to the wall so that money could funnel down into a box. Now when thrown into that receptacle,

Giving Without Sounding A Trumpet

SPEAKER_00 4:45

the coin or the coins are going to rattle around that opening. They're effectively sounding the trumpet. In fact, later on in Mark's gospel, Jesus refers to rich people casting, you know, bagfuls of money into these receptacles. So you can kind of think of it this way. In today's economy, you could either slip a $50 bill into that trumpet and it would quietly slide down, or you could convert it into 200 quarters. That would be a lot more fun, wouldn't it? That'd make a lot of noise, and that would get a lot of attention. And that's the point Jesus is making. Don't sound the trumpet. Don't draw attention to yourself. Now, uh of those who did so, Jesus adds here in verse 2, Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. In other words, they wanted attention from people. Well, that attention they got was the only reward they'll ever get. Now Jesus also adds here to the thought in verse three, when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. The idea here is you're giving money away to other people. Don't try to impress those people or other people who know about it. And secondly, I think the implication here, Jesus is saying, don't try to impress yourself. Give and then get over it. Now, here's another activity Jesus addresses, and that's that's praying. He says here in verse five, when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Now in the Lord's day there were three times for prayer during the day. The Pharisees would time their movements so that they would be in a prominent place at those times, such as on a street corner where they could be seen from four different directions. Now again, don't misunderstand, there's nothing wrong with praying at an intersection. I've prayed many

When Prayer Becomes A Performance

SPEAKER_00 6:54

times at intersections, and it's usually, Lord, please change that red light to a green light because I'm late. Well Jesus isn't opposed to public prayer. He just warns against making public prayers a public performance of spirituality, putting on a little theater. Now the third practice he exposes here in verse sixteen is fasting. When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces, that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Now according to the Bible, the only time fasting was required by the Lord was on the annual day of atonement, recorded back in Leviticus chapter sixteen. However, by the time of Christ, the Pharisees were fasting two times a week on Monday and Thursday. Why those two days? Well, we know from

Fasting For Applause On Market Days

SPEAKER_00 7:54

history that the Jewish economy had two market days, shopping days, and on those days the crowds would swell into Jerusalem to purchase what they needed for the week. And guess when those market days were Mondays and Thursdays. And here comes the circus again. They even put on costumes, Jesus says here that they would disfigure their faces. What that means is they were known to rub ashes into their cheeks to whiten them and make themselves look pale, as if they're so hungry and so famished. Well, let me tell you, Jesus never commanded his followers to fast. But if we do, it really ought to be a private matter because we're focusing on his word, maybe we're taking lunchtime to pray. We're certainly not putting on a public show. And here's the problem. We all happen to be infected with a desire to impress other people. Even with our personal disciplines, our personal relationship with God. I I remember as a young believer hearing a preacher say, I've just finished reading the Bible through for the sixty-seventh time. He went on to say that he read through the whole Bible every single month. Well, I I tried to do that, and I failed miserably. Well, evidently that preacher, I thought, must be super spiritual.

The Subtle Need To Impress

SPEAKER_00 9:24

I could never measure up. No, the truth is he was boasting of his personal devotion. It might have done him more good to study one book of the Bible a month rather than speed read through the Bible in a month. Beloved, there are two questions that come out of this study that ought to be asked in relation to giving, praying, and fasting or any other spiritual discipline. First, what's my motive? Am I trying to earn God's love? Am I trying to be accepted by God? Am I trying to gain attention from other people? Well, let me tell you, beloved, you already have God's love through Christ. You can't be any more acceptable to Him than you are right now. And you're not going to grow spiritually if you depend on other people's attention and

Two Questions That Expose The Heart

SPEAKER_00 10:15

approval. So the first question is, what's my motive? Secondly, who's my audience? You know, our public prayers ought to sound a lot like our private prayers. You ever notice that often when people pray in public their tone changes? You know, their vocabulary changes. Here's the point Jesus is making. You don't have to prove anything. And if your audience is God, you can always be encouraged because God sees you. God hears you. And God is enough of an audience. Well, we're out of time for today. Until we set sail again, beloved, may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.