Greg and Amy discuss the motivations behind good deeds performed by believers, considering heavenly rewards, the value of the deeds themselves, and the desire to honor God.
Transcript
Question: If our good deeds on earth earn us a reward in Heaven—not salvation, but an extra reward—is it appropriate to do such deeds with the intent of earning a reward in Heaven, or should our intent be on earth and the impact we can have here?
Greg: No, I think absolutely it’s appropriate because that is offered as an inducement in Scripture. You do this, you’ll get that. Really? Cool! I’ve actually thought about this a lot before. If God is offering a reward for something we do, then it is an appropriate reward. It is what is appropriate in that circumstance, and we know about these rewards because Paul talks of it. After you do these, then you will receive. I don’t know how that can be taken as anything less than an inducement, but it’s an appropriate inducement because it’s an appropriate reward—because it’s one that God is giving, and he doesn’t ever do anything inappropriate.
Now, I can see how some people might be a little uncomfortable with this kind of stuff. In my own conversations with God about this, I have told God, “I don’t care about that. You can give me what you want to give me, but I don’t really care about that. I care about other things. I care about being faithful for faithfulness’ sake. I care about being obedient to God for obedience’s sake. I care about communicating the Word.” And there is a reward for those who communicate the gospel of peace. I do those things, but I’m not trying to wave my own flag. I’m just saying I’m interested in doing those things for their own sake, not because I’m going to get a reward. Now, if I get a reward, okay, I’ll take it. If God’s giving it out, I’ll take it.
The concern is that if we’re doing it for the reward, we’re not doing it properly for God, and I can understand the concern. I don’t believe that’s the case, because God is the one who is offering the promise that a reward will be given from him for this behavior, and that’s up to him to do. He could do as he wishes. So, I don’t think it’s inappropriate. Now, some people want to qualify this. They would say, “Oh, yeah, yeah. We get rewards, but we give them all back. We throw our crowns at the feet of the throne. So, really, we’re not getting the rewards.” I don’t know, first of all, if that’s actually accurate. We have language like that in the book of Revelation, but it may not be that you’re actually getting a crown, in a certain sense, literally, that you can give back, but you’re getting something—some benefit that occurs to you that you carry with you and enjoy for the rest of eternity because God has deemed it so.
I think that’s one way of trying to have your cake and eat it too.
“Well, we don’t get rewards.”
“Oh, yes, you do.”
“Oh, okay. Well, we give them back, so that doesn’t even count.”
Well, I don’t know. That’s not persuasive to me. I think we get rewards. It’s not clear to me that we give them back, whatever those rewards are. God gives them because he thinks we deserve them. It’s an honor, and I think we can look forward to the rewards that God has promised us.
Amy: And I don’t think the two things are so separate. I think they’re intertwined because the things that God is rewarding are the things that are good for our neighbor and good for the world. So, I think, a lot of times, promising the reward is showing us what’s important. You should lay up treasure in Heaven, not on earth. Well, maybe you don’t realize that the things of God that have to do with character and serving others are actually more valuable in the long run than building up a treasury of money, and so, we need that lesson to know which one is the lasting, more valuable thing to seek. So, we’re seeking it because we want to do something valuable with our lives. We want our lives to be meaningful. These are all good things to seek. We’re doing the things that are meaningful and have that reward of being valuable in the long run, but as we’re doing that, we’re doing the things that are actually helping our neighbor. I don’t even know that you have to choose one thing or the other.
Greg: It’s a false dichotomy.
Amy: Because you want to do what matters. You want to do the weighty thing. It’s good to know what those things are and to know that the things of God are the things that are worthwhile.