The scriptures conflict on these two ideas -- how do you reconcile them?

[SilentDawning]

I am reconnecting with my Mormon roots by listening to Afterglow, the duo that defined a lot of LDS music during my mission.

One song, Example to the World, starts out with this quote:

Matt.5 Verses 14 to 16
[14] Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
[15] Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
[16] Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

But then, this passage seems to conflict with it:

Matt.6
But the Bible also says the following:
1] Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
[2] Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
[3] But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
[4] That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
[5] And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

How do you reconcile these two views? Motive? Thoughts?

[nibbler]

Interesting. I've never really thought about it before.

Maybe it's a question of motives? Like one passage is referring to not being ashamed of living the gospel and the other is referring to not virtue signaling?

Our doctrines surrounding the council in heaven might fit. In Matthew 5:14-16 you have a reflection of Jesus' plan where the glory goes to god whereas in Matthew 6:1-5 the primary concern is glory for oneself, mirroring Lucifer's plan to gain the glory for himself.

[Roy]

I like to think of two different adages:

The early bird gets the worm

and

The best things come to those who wait

Both of these can be true at the same time. Those with hustle sometimes win AND sometime those that wait for the strategic moment to strike are the victors.

[Roy]

I remember a time when the youth of our church congregation had done something noteworthy and there was a desire to recognize them in SM.

This request was denied based on the justification that SD referenced:

[3] But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
[4] That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

This, to me, seemed to be pretty arbitrary. We recognize and congratulate people in our meetings all the time.

[DarkJedi]

I'm a big believer that scriptures generally have multiple meanings and points of view. It is entirely possible the two are not really talking about the same thing - depending on one's own point of view.

It is interesting that these two passages come in succeeding chapters and ostensibly all part of the Sermon on the Mount. The chapter divisions were later inventions, of course, but Matt 5 seems to be talking more about how the Law of Moses is not iron-clad and love (and common sense) play a role in how we treat each other. Chapter 6 focuses more on giving to those in need, fasting, prayer, and perhaps the idea that we need to focus more on the here and now than worrying about heaven. After talking about letting our light shine so the "world" can see our good works, there is the warning about doing it for the recognition. My longtime stance that missionaries would be more effective if they gave more service as opposed to knocking on doors (or posting on social media these days) would fit with "let your light shine." I do however see the pitfall that 18-year-olds might be more prone to wracking up numbers to report (How many service hours did you do?) than actually worrying about the quality of the service and how it might help the community or community members. OK, starting to ramble, but I see it as be good and others will notice, but don't do it to e noticed yourself.

Side note, I think this is why the church tends to not "boast" about how much money they give to humanitarian causes and therefore many members are not aware of it. (I still think they could give far more.)

[AmyJ]

I agree with Nibbler, but I think it goes beyond that. This is more in the conceptual ethics vein based on the 2 passages of scripture.

A candle that has been lit and is in an environment with the correct type of gas cannot help but burn (unless it explodes). That is the innate scientific law. You play around with fire, with the gases, with the burnable item(s) to get different results of scientific fact.

A person can introspect to figure out the "why" that is motivating them. There is a difference between the less authentic "looking good / for show" and the more hopeful "for show and to help others". But when a person is acting solely based on how they appear to others - that implies by definition that they haven't figured out what they think about themselves or how they feel about themselves - and so their candle "spark" isn't trigger-able and they are more "inert" in their connections to others.