Is it Selfish to Serve God for Rewards?
Why should we serve God? The typical answer is that our motive for serving him should be our love for God, and certainly not for self-gain. That sounds right, doesn’t it? Pleasing God should be our motive, and not pleasing self. Yet Scripture gives a somewhat different answer.
In Hebrews, chapter 11, we read of how Moses came to a crossroads in his life where he gave up power, prestige, pleasure, and preeminence, choosing instead to identify with the used and abused Jewish slaves. Why did he do it? Well, not because of love and gratitude only; Scripture says another factor proved decisive. There was one inducement, one incentive, one overriding desire that provided all the motivation Moses needed; and Hebrews 11:26 tells us what it was— “he looked to the reward.” Amazing! The entire career of Moses pivoted on that one prevailing thought.
Like Moses in the Old Testament, Paul in the New Testament revered these rewards. More than once he spoke passionately about the reward he will receive on “that Day” (2 Timothy 1:12; 4:7, 8). A.B. Simpson observed, “That Day was to him the day of days, the day on which all accounts should be balanced, all losses regained, all wrongs righted, all sacrifices repaid, and all tears forever wiped away.” Sharing this vision, Marin Luther said, “There are only two days on my calendar: Today and that Day.” Even Jesus said, “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in Heaven.”
In promising a leaping joy, do you get the idea that these rewards are going to be stunning, staggering, stupendous, and altogether awesome? And when Jesus said “indeed,” a very emphatic word, and then added the word “great,” an uncommonly strong word, the Son of God elevated our thoughts about these rewards to sky-high expectancy.
Keep in mind that when God created the world, he said it was “good.” So if the whole world, with its breathtaking views and awesome resources, only merits a “good” from God, one has to wonder what “great” must mean. Whatever it means, it caused Jesus to say, “be exceedingly glad” about the rewards to come (Matthew 5:12). And in saying all this, the Lord couldn’t have raised our expectations any higher.
Imagine the God of heaven and earth—whose power to create exceeds our ability to comprehend, and whose affection for goodness surpasses any affection we’ve ever known—poised this hour to give remarkable rewards. And we’re not even interested? We who could be eligible for these rewards—and this isn’t even on our radar?
Most Christians know very little about God’s rewards. And not only know little but have very little curiosity. To them, the rewards are more of an afterthought, almost as if they’re some token memento—you know, the plaque commemorating achievement, the trophy given for a championship, the watch given at a retirement party. A nice little ceremony, a brief round of applause, and then it’s over.
But these rewards will far exceed what some stooge in a cummerbund hands out, or that presented by some titled person whose impact on history barely causes a ripple. Instead of beginning his speech with an acknowledgment that what he is about to give is but a token of his gratitude, we can forget the token stuff! Far from being a cheap, chintzy, calculating rewarder, the rewards the Lord gives will thrill and fulfill beyond anything we can imagine! Indeed, in all the epochs of eternity there will scarcely be a day like “that Day.” These rewards will dramatically change eternity!
True, Heaven will always be Heaven, but Heaven won’t be the same for everyone. Oh, I know, the progressives in our midst don’t like rewards. They don’t even like giving grades, recognizing honor graduates, or basing admission into college on achievement tests. So, rather than risk people getting their feelings hurt, they prefer participation rewards. But God isn’t like that! Over and over again, Scripture says the rewards God gives will be “according to” their works. The rewarded saints, elevated in the bridegroom at diverse levels, will span a wide Heaven at distinctly different stations, yet all united with the rest of the saved in their fervent worship of God.
It will be more than royalty attire that distinguishes those rewarded, however, because these rewards aren’t just honors; they are functional. They entail differing capacities for joy, intimacy, service, and worship to be wondrously used throughout the eons of eternity. Moreover, these rewards, unlike the rewards given on earth, aren’t merely listed beside our name or put on a shelf; they are internalized into the depths of our exalted being. And also unlike the rewards given on earth, which are then given to someone else the next year; there is no next year! These rewards are forever! God’s rewards aren’t confined to a ceremony, dispensed for a day, and rotated in their distribution.
G.D. Watson declared, “The saints will be astonished at the largeness of their rewards.” Each reward will be generously given, publicly proclaimed, and excitedly extended, as the Lord’s adoring gaze is focused on each person rewarded, to whom his effusive praise will then be singularly and sincerely directed.
Yet, for many people, what God is so excited to give never influences a decision, never gets mentioned in a prayer, never becomes a feature attraction in the theater of their minds. In fact, if someone were to ask— “Should a Christian do what he does for a reward?”—most people would think there is something unworthy about that; they would say we should do what we do simply because we love Jesus.
But that’s not what Jesus thought! Jesus was so excited about the rewards he kept saying that when he returns, he’s bringing the rewards with him. Almost like a parent at Christmas time who can’t wait to give all the gifts, Jesus can hardly wait to give his astonishing rewards.
Unfortunately, the church believes only half that message, the part about the Lord’s return; but as for the reward-giving, not so much. So is relegating rewards to a secondary status approved by Scripture? It is not! Colossians 3:23 states, “… whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward ….” Did you get that? “Whatever you do”— that’s daily! So that’s how frequently our aspirations for God’s rewards should be, daily—on our minds, front and center!
But to go through life, as many do, clueless about the rewards, virtually assures lamentable loss. Matthew Henry said, “It ought to be the business of every day to prepare for the last day.” Indeed, we are to long for that day! And plan for that day! Because such a vitalizing vision will steady our will and strengthen our resolve.
Those who think little about the rewards will find themselves one day in that great assembling of the saints, feeling suddenly overwhelmed by the swelling excitement all around them but wishing too late that they had prepared. But if we want our life to count, we need to make that our goal now.
Who wants his or her life to be as those in biblical genealogies where names are cited, and that’s it? It’s as if there were a long row of cradles over here and a long row of coffins over there, between which a few futile steps were taken with zero mention of any progress. They lived, they died, they had parents, they had children, and they stayed on the planet for x number of years. Who wants that? A.B. Simpson challenged, “May God arouse us from lethargy, apathy, and trifling. We have a glorious crown to win. We have a living age in which to win it. We have one short life to accomplish.”
The reward for that accomplishment, you must know, will be far better than any coveted promotion, or any spotlight-shining, statue-honoring, marquis-advertisement of fabled fame. Once understood, these rewards will cause eyes to widen, faces to flush, hearts to skip, breathing to stop, and an unsurpassable thrill to overcome us—and remain!
It is clear that these rewards should never be dismissed with a yawn and a shrug or degraded in the believer’s mind as a subject of little concern. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “… if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.”
God wants us to want the rewards!
Information about J.W. Phillips and his contact address is located on the website: omegaadvanceddiscipleship.com
