"Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." That sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Wholeness was a major emphasis of Jesus’ message, was it not? Is he here asking us to become split personalities? No, with purposeful exaggeration he is simply emphasizing that "theatrical virtue does not count in the Kingdom of God,"1 and that we, therefore, should pay little attention to our good deeds.

Some of the people among whom he lived were doing just the opposite of that. They were "religious" persons, but they wanted everyone to know it. They liked to be in a conspicuous place when the hour of prayer came so that all could see their piety; and if they gave a dollar to a beggar, they were eager for others to know what they had done.

But Jesus said, "Do not let your left hand know …