Mattthew 6:5 and 6:6

My favorite teaching in Matthew 5-7 come from lines five and six in Chapter six, “ And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand up and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” This verse speaks strongly to my feelings towards many churches of the Judeo-Christian faith. Some of these institutions have almost completely lost their roots, and are so hell bent on capitalism that they violate some of their own base values. I believe that faith is something personal that shouldn’t be broadcasted on television; rather it should be practiced personally in ones’ own home. If God can hear you in the comfort of you Lay-Z boy, is there really a necessity to go out and give one tenth of your paycheck to the church weekly? This teaching is ignored frankly by, and this is a complete guesstimate, 99.9999999 percent of those who consider themselves religious. This passage is so important because a huge number of church goers aren’t there for their personal benefit, rather to uphold a public image, or even make themselves feel like they are making God happy by going to church. Religion should not be a symbol of status or who you are, your religion and how you practice it is a personal thing, and in my opinion it should stay that way.