Every society has them, people who learned early that your image is more important than your real character. They care about what people think, and not just any people, but people they don’t even like, people they despise, people to whom they believe themselves superior. So they play a part, pretending to be a good person. They hold a press conference when they donate to charity so everyone knows how generous they are and no one questions how they got their wealth in the first place—by stealing wages from their employees, selling shoddy products to their customers, or ravaging the earth.

“Don’t be like them,” Jesus tells his disciples. “When you give, don’t even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Do it in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

Some pretenders have a religious bent. They want people to think they are holier, better, more pious. So they pray out loud on cable television, invoking the name of God to line their own pockets and fund their own lavish lifestyle, while the people they prey on can barely make ends meet. When they fast, as they sometimes do to show how truly superior they are, they parade their misery in front of the cameras, so everyone knows how self-sacrificial they are being, how Christian, how ascetic. They’ve already got what they want, the esteem and envy of the masses.

“Don’t be like them,” Jesus says. “Pray in an inner room away from the limelight. Don’t let anyone guess that you’re fasting. Comb your hair, put on your makeup, and use breath freshener, so no one knows you’re not eating. Then your Father, who sees what you are doing in secret, will reward you.”