Fixing our thinking about rewards …

For years I’ve said the church tends to think and act like a pendulum, swinging wildly to one side or the other and often missing hitting the mark in the middle.

I think that’s true for where we’re at when it comes to the topic of rewards.

It’s become common for many church leaders to speak predominantly, if not nearly constantly, about chasing blessings and seeking rewards from God. In fact, some teach that should be the primary focus of our lives.

Fortunately, I’m happy to know I’m not the only one who strongly disagrees with such a view …

“We’ve got to start thinking differently about what matters to God,” says pastor and author Kent Crockett. “Did you know that the little things you do please Him? This means that anyone, including you, can make the headlines in heaven.”

Crockett says you can expect a reward for those things you do which please God. But the subject of rewards, he suggests, raises questions:

“Imagine a … soldier, wounded while courageously rescuing his fellow soldiers. When he returned home, he was rewarded with a Medal of Honor for his service. What had motivated him to put his life in danger? He risked his life to save his friends’ lives and defend his country’s freedom. When his life was at stake in battle, he wasn’t thinking, I’m going to put my life in jeopardy so that I will receive a medal. The reward was simply the nation’s way of showing appreciation for his heroic actions.”

Instead of following the twisted teaching of living in pursuit of rewards, we’re really called to live our lives in ways that please God, with the assurance that He’ll show His appreciation for that a little now, and lot when we’re finally with Him. But the reason why we seek to live holy lives empowered by the Holy Spirit isn’t for recognition or reward. It’s not for blessing or for gain. It’s because we LOVE God and desire to please Him.

At least, that’s the way it should be.

“Finally, dear brothers and sisters, we urge you in the name of the Lord Jesus to live in a way that pleases God, as we have taught you. You live this way already, and we encourage you to do so even more,” 1 Thessalonians 4:1.

“So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better,” Colossians 1:9-10.

What are you pursuing, living a life that pleases God, or gaining rewards from God? Which is more important to you?

Scotty