Running For the Rewards

The stray thought flitted across my mind as I was shaving one morning: I wondered if there was any reward for faithfully performing such a mundane task almost every day of my life so that others would not have to look at a stubby growth of whiskers.
The Bible speaks of the Judgment Seat of Christ as a place of rewards and punishments. Speculation as to the specifics of what takes place on that day of reckoning has been rampant in Christianity.
Many feel that the good deeds of each person will be lined up with the sins committed and the scales will be tipped one way or the other.
Those of us who believe that we have become new persons in union with Christ by accepting Him as Savior and Lord see the Judgment Seat of Christ differently. The Bible says that at our new birth and after, any forgiven sins are wiped away and forgotten and separated from us as far as the east is from the west (infinitely, because there is no east or west pole as there are north and south poles). Christ has paid the punishment for all our sins.
Therefore, for true Christian children of God, this Judgment Seat can only be for rewards and not punishment. As accurate as that stance is, it is equally true that there will be recognition for our works.
When we as true Christians in union with Christ do stand before Him, remember sin is not the issue. There will be no forensic punishment meted out. We are perfect and complete in Christ and no sin is going to be laid to our charge on that day. This is not a punitive place for us. This is a time of evaluation – a family matter of the Father with His children. I am told that there used to be a sign in the registrar’s office of Dallas Theological Seminary that read, “Salvation is by grace, graduation is by works.”
On graduation day, our performance will be evaluated entirely on what we have done with what we have been given – the very Life of the resurrected Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). As we listen to the Life within to guide and direct, we will inevitably move to the rhythm of LOVE in all we do.
We have been encoded with the very essence of God (1 John 4:16). If Christ lives in us, God’s love is in us.
I propose that we reckon it as the only fair and equitable measuring stick by which to evaluate our interactions with people, our work performance and our relationship with our God.
We will not be rewarded according to our doctrine or dogma, but according to how we have used the gift of God’s agape love. No matter how we may have failed at many things in our lives, if we have learned in good measure how to love, we have succeeded no matter what kind of other things we do.
Whether wheeling and dealing in the high, heady echelons of the corporate boardroom, teaching a group of wriggly first graders or checking out groceries in the line at the supermarket, the measure is the same. Our culture says that ruthless competition is the key to success. Jesus says ruthless compassion and love is the purpose of our journey.
Endurance is frequently referenced in the scriptural context of rewards as it rightly should be. The example of running the Olympic race with persistence to finish strongly is placed in our memory by Paul.
Yes, there is much to indicate there will be rank in heaven. I would not like to speculate on what that might finally look like, enough to say that if being faithful over little warrants being made ruler over much on earth, then there may well be heavenly parallels (Matt. 25:20-29). Paul Bilheimer writes in “Don’t Waste Your Sorrows” – “Rank in heaven will be determined not by magnetic personality, glittering talents, towering intellect, or other coveted endowments, but by the depth and quality of one’s love.”
We will fully discover that our only hope of glory truly comes to fruition as we stand before our Savior at that Judgment Seat. When we see Him face to face in all His beauty, we will realize totally that Christ IS that glory – the glory that has resided in us from the moment of our new birth.
Then there are those promised crowns. Unlike the Miss Americas I have seen all decked out in full regalia, but clutching on for dear life to the temporal crown on top of her head as she tries to walk down that aisle – the crowns we receive we do not hold on to. We lay them at the Father’s feet, for the praise and honor belong to Him.
And we are glad to be there in heaven regardless of rank or rewards.

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