Beyond The Basics

So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Chances are, if you’ve spent much time in a church, you’ve probably heard this verse. If you haven’t spent a whole lot of time in a church then obviously it’s much less likely you’ve heard it. Whatever your experience with church or with the Bible, this is a very popular verse that many preachers and teachers will use to encourage people that whatever they do should be done for God’s glory and God’s glory alone and to not expect or ask for anything in return. Everything we do, whether we go to work, minister to the poor, eat dinner with our families, hang out with friends, whatever it might be, we should always have the glory of God in mind and have the single purpose of glorifying God.

The problem is, that’s not what this verse is talking about. In the context of chapter 10, it’s referring to how Christians should conduct themselves when being invited over to a friend’s house who is serving meat or when purchasing meat at the market. Paul tells his readers that they should not knowingly eat meat offered to idols but if the Christian is unaware of the status of said meat, he or she should not press too hard to find out. We do all things to the glory of God and in so doing should not intentionally harm our witness or our relationship with an unbeliever in the name of taking an unbreakable stand on a relatively minor issue. Nowhere in the chapter does it say anything about giving God glory for what we do and refusing anything in return.

With that said, I don’t want to talk about 1 Corinthians 10:31 anymore for the duration of this blog post, even though I used it as the intro to the entire post. Plot twist!!

Instead, I want to talk about something that may be a little more controversial to some: Jesus does not want us to go unrewarded for our work for the kingdom and He certainly does not expect us to do everything with the sole reward being God’s glory. How do I know? Take a look at the following word usage in the Sermon on the Mount (this is taken from the ESV, so if your version is different you may have a slightly different word count):

The word “blessed” is used nine times.

The word “reward” is used nine times.

The word “treasure” is used three times.

Jesus lists actual specific rewards nine times and lists four other specific actions that result in rewards.

I think it’s pretty clear that Jesus wants us to desire rewards for the things we do.

I’m not convinced. Seems kinda selfish to me.

Need further proof? Revelation chapters 2-3 list at least twenty separate rewards for those who overcome specific things in this life. I’m convinced. If Jesus wants me to have those things then I’m pretty sure I want them, not to mention, I bet they are good for me. We’re not talking about Jesus rewarding us with a serpent here, people (Matthew 7:10).

Of course, it does seem selfish in our modern western context. We’re used to being in a culture where we take what we want and we only do things for others if we know we can get something in return. But I believe Jesus has a greater purpose in mind for these rewards. Do we not give gifts to those we love? And if God is love, would He not want to give us gifts and rewards as well? And in our deep gratitude and love for Him, we cast those rewards at His feet in devotion and worship to Him as the elders do in Revelation 4, or we use those rewards to minister to and bless others. They were never intended for us to keep to ourselves!

I do want to make two things clear: first, and most importantly, I am most definitely not saying that we earn our salvation by what we do. Please read that again. We do not earn our salvation based on what we do. We are saved only because of Jesus’ work on the cross. That is it. That’s the only reason. Second, I am not saying we should not give God glory in everything we do. Of course we should do that. He deserves everything we can possibly give Him and more! I’m only saying that we don’t have to fool ourselves into thinking that’s our only motivation.

I would like to dive deeper into these rewards which would obviously take far more space than I have in just one post. Besides the rewards listed in Matthew 5-6 and Revelation 2-3 there are many other rewards listed in Scripture. Be on the lookout for an upcoming blog series going through these rewards one by one (spoiler alert!). I believe God wants us to understand and desire these eternal rewards so my hope is to explore them together so we can all better understand what Jesus is offering us.

In the meantime, start reading through these rewards and meditating on the benefits of faithfulness to God. As you read, try to forget about what you have been taught about rewards in the past and instead ask, “What does God say about rewards?” Keep an eye on this space for more!