Walking the Talk
Matthew 23:1-12, I Thessalonians 2:9-13
Saint Francis of Assisi once invited a young monk to join him on a trip into a new town to preach. The monk felt honored and happily joined him. All day long he and Francis walked - they trekked through all the streets of downtown, then outward into residential areas. By the end of the day, they had interacted with hundreds of people of all ages. But not once did Francis speak to a crowd or share the gospel. This disappointed the eager young monk so much, he vented saying, “Our whole day was a waste! I thought we were going into town to preach, to make a real difference!” Saint Francis said, “My son, we have preached! With every person we greeted, with every word we said, we preached a message of kindness and encouragement. Our behavior was seen. Our conduct was watched. Now the people here know we care.”
Saint Francis taught the young monk the important lesson of first walking the walk as a Christian. He knew that over time the people who’d seen their good conduct would realize that their Christian messages had the same authenticity. Nowadays the same principle applies. People don’t care how much you know, until they first know how much you care about them. They may not remember the names of people from the first church they attended, or even the denomination, but they will remember the many ways people’s walk matched their talk as a Christian. They were genuine, through and through.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica, he reminded them that he worked, so no one had to pay for his food or lodgings when he preached and taught in their city. This was a way of showing them the integrity of his “walk”; he placed no financial burden on others. The Thessalonians no doubt respected Paul for that choice. As for Paul’s “talk”, he said the message he shared about Jesus everywhere he went was the same. He never changed it to suit the taste of those who heard it, nor did he flatter people to win them over. Again, we see his integrity. Paul invited others to look at him and judge for themselves. Did he walk the walk, and talk the talk with integrity?
Today we are Jesus’ messengers, and the world is watching; so are our neighbors, friends, co-workers, our family and the Lord. If people have no respect for the messenger, they won’t listen to the message, will they? When that happens, the word hypocrite is used to describe inauthentic Christians. We usually have no control over hypocrites, but we do for our own lives. We need to be genuine and consistent so that skeptics we meet see good examples of Christians.
Here’s a true story that relates to this. Some years back the pastor of a large city church needed to take the bus downtown. He got on at a nearby bus stop and paid, but he was owed some change. The driver gave him back 35 cents. Some time passed. When the minister got to his stop, he handed the driver back a dime and said he’d given him the wrong change. With a grin and a chuckle, the bus driver said he’d done that on purpose. He’d visited the pastor’s church service the Sunday before and heard his solid sermon on honesty. He said, “I just wanted to see if you practiced what you preached!”
In Matthew 23, Jesus points out how some Pharisees showed off their “spirituality”. They were overly concerned with outward piety and forgot that a pure and contrite heart is what God wants. They were prideful about their high positions, enjoying many privileges. Jesus called them blind guides, rebuking them for creating burdensome laws and standards so high they were impossible for anyone to follow. The Pharisees didn’t even manage to practice them in their own life. Knowing all of this, Jesus told his listeners: “Do what they say, but don’t live as they live.”
Here’s more examples of Pharisees who talked the talk but weren’t walking the walk. If some unfortunate Jew was walking along and forgot to address a Pharisee as “rabbi”, or another esteemed title, they’d quickly and publicly be told the error of their ways. If there was a large banquet, Pharisees expected a prominent seat, preferably to the left or right side of the host. When they went outside to pray in public places, some of them put on their full religious regalia. What was more cringeworthy was their choice to pray so loudly others couldn’t help but turn and notice. The fringe on their prayer shawls was much longer than that of an ordinary Jew’s shawl. It showed off how they supposedly followed the finer points of the Law.
Pharisees also wore extra-large leather boxes on their arms and foreheads called phylacteries. Every adult male did this, but their boxes were smaller, more discreet. Inside them were the words from Deuteronomy 6:6-8: “These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”
I want to pause here and remind us all that Jesus sees into every human heart. What he saw in some of the Pharisees was a disconnect between their talk and their walk. They were “rabbis”, teachers of the law, but some loved their title and high status more than their job of teaching. At banquets they wanted others to be impressed with their importance. The same was true as they prayed; some shamelessly drew attention to themselves, rather than to God. The fringe on prayer shawls was meant to remind all people to obey God’s commandments, not to flaunt one’s holiness. As for the phylacteries, what God wanted was a way for His word to become part of His people, part of their thinking and doing. It wasn’t meant to be worn as a super-sized religious accessory; its purpose was to remind God’s people to keep His wonderful, life-giving truths close to them.
Imagine the contrast that would be seen when Jesus was around this sort of Pharisees. He was immensely humble; they were often puffed up with pride. They loved the public recognition and accolades; Jesus preferred to do his good deeds in secret, if possible, helping the least and the lost, who could never repay him. They loved being in a position of power; he lived to empower. They insisted on being served; he insisted on being a servant. What Jesus wanted for these men was the letting go of false religion and the discovery of a true relationship with Him. What they were living was pretense - what Jesus offered was personal.
Our calling is to follow Jesus and imitate him. The Bible says, “He emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant.” And later, when his hour had come, He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” for our sins.
If you and I want to be great in God’s kingdom, we’ll be the servant of all. We get the chance to do that at home, work, sometimes even when we’re walking in our neighborhood or at the grocery store. Like Saint Francis from so long ago, we can listen and encourage those we know well and even those we’re just connected with for a brief while. People will see we’re genuine, and as time goes by, sometimes that opens the door for conversations about God and our faith. May God help us so our talk matches our walk, God will be well pleased, and He’ll use us in many ways and places. Thanks be to God!
Saint Francis taught the young monk the important lesson of first walking the walk as a Christian. He knew that over time the people who’d seen their good conduct would realize that their Christian messages had the same authenticity. Nowadays the same principle applies. People don’t care how much you know, until they first know how much you care about them. They may not remember the names of people from the first church they attended, or even the denomination, but they will remember the many ways people’s walk matched their talk as a Christian. They were genuine, through and through.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Thessalonica, he reminded them that he worked, so no one had to pay for his food or lodgings when he preached and taught in their city. This was a way of showing them the integrity of his “walk”; he placed no financial burden on others. The Thessalonians no doubt respected Paul for that choice. As for Paul’s “talk”, he said the message he shared about Jesus everywhere he went was the same. He never changed it to suit the taste of those who heard it, nor did he flatter people to win them over. Again, we see his integrity. Paul invited others to look at him and judge for themselves. Did he walk the walk, and talk the talk with integrity?
Today we are Jesus’ messengers, and the world is watching; so are our neighbors, friends, co-workers, our family and the Lord. If people have no respect for the messenger, they won’t listen to the message, will they? When that happens, the word hypocrite is used to describe inauthentic Christians. We usually have no control over hypocrites, but we do for our own lives. We need to be genuine and consistent so that skeptics we meet see good examples of Christians.
Here’s a true story that relates to this. Some years back the pastor of a large city church needed to take the bus downtown. He got on at a nearby bus stop and paid, but he was owed some change. The driver gave him back 35 cents. Some time passed. When the minister got to his stop, he handed the driver back a dime and said he’d given him the wrong change. With a grin and a chuckle, the bus driver said he’d done that on purpose. He’d visited the pastor’s church service the Sunday before and heard his solid sermon on honesty. He said, “I just wanted to see if you practiced what you preached!”
In Matthew 23, Jesus points out how some Pharisees showed off their “spirituality”. They were overly concerned with outward piety and forgot that a pure and contrite heart is what God wants. They were prideful about their high positions, enjoying many privileges. Jesus called them blind guides, rebuking them for creating burdensome laws and standards so high they were impossible for anyone to follow. The Pharisees didn’t even manage to practice them in their own life. Knowing all of this, Jesus told his listeners: “Do what they say, but don’t live as they live.”
Here’s more examples of Pharisees who talked the talk but weren’t walking the walk. If some unfortunate Jew was walking along and forgot to address a Pharisee as “rabbi”, or another esteemed title, they’d quickly and publicly be told the error of their ways. If there was a large banquet, Pharisees expected a prominent seat, preferably to the left or right side of the host. When they went outside to pray in public places, some of them put on their full religious regalia. What was more cringeworthy was their choice to pray so loudly others couldn’t help but turn and notice. The fringe on their prayer shawls was much longer than that of an ordinary Jew’s shawl. It showed off how they supposedly followed the finer points of the Law.
Pharisees also wore extra-large leather boxes on their arms and foreheads called phylacteries. Every adult male did this, but their boxes were smaller, more discreet. Inside them were the words from Deuteronomy 6:6-8: “These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.”
I want to pause here and remind us all that Jesus sees into every human heart. What he saw in some of the Pharisees was a disconnect between their talk and their walk. They were “rabbis”, teachers of the law, but some loved their title and high status more than their job of teaching. At banquets they wanted others to be impressed with their importance. The same was true as they prayed; some shamelessly drew attention to themselves, rather than to God. The fringe on prayer shawls was meant to remind all people to obey God’s commandments, not to flaunt one’s holiness. As for the phylacteries, what God wanted was a way for His word to become part of His people, part of their thinking and doing. It wasn’t meant to be worn as a super-sized religious accessory; its purpose was to remind God’s people to keep His wonderful, life-giving truths close to them.
Imagine the contrast that would be seen when Jesus was around this sort of Pharisees. He was immensely humble; they were often puffed up with pride. They loved the public recognition and accolades; Jesus preferred to do his good deeds in secret, if possible, helping the least and the lost, who could never repay him. They loved being in a position of power; he lived to empower. They insisted on being served; he insisted on being a servant. What Jesus wanted for these men was the letting go of false religion and the discovery of a true relationship with Him. What they were living was pretense - what Jesus offered was personal.
Our calling is to follow Jesus and imitate him. The Bible says, “He emptied himself, taking on the form of a servant.” And later, when his hour had come, He humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross” for our sins.
If you and I want to be great in God’s kingdom, we’ll be the servant of all. We get the chance to do that at home, work, sometimes even when we’re walking in our neighborhood or at the grocery store. Like Saint Francis from so long ago, we can listen and encourage those we know well and even those we’re just connected with for a brief while. People will see we’re genuine, and as time goes by, sometimes that opens the door for conversations about God and our faith. May God help us so our talk matches our walk, God will be well pleased, and He’ll use us in many ways and places. Thanks be to God!