Matthew 16:27 says this with reference to the end of the world: “For the Son of Man (Jesus) is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.” It goes on to say “…this will take place on December 20, 2012…so go see the movie!!” Just kidding…it doesn’t say that. This is just one example of a number of verses in the New Testament that, on first reading, seem to imply that God will give people rewards in heaven.

What the heck? Does this mean that some people will get bigger clouds in heaven and that there will be a hierarchy of those who earned more “bliss” than others? What is even more troubling is that the Bible also talks about “grace” – meaning that even our best attempts at righteousness are like “dirty rags” to God. In other words our actions cannot and do not merit us any special favors  (i.e. rewards)with God.  So what gives?

While there are a number of perspectives on the issue of how these two opposing ideas can fit, here is one that makes sense to me. When the Bible talks about rewards in heaven it only does so when it is talking about the day Christ returns to earth. What this could mean is that the “rewards” people will receive will be the satisfaction of knowing that their lives and their actions were well spent doing things with everlasting significance as opposed to people who reflect back on their lives and realize how meaningless and empty all of their efforts were.

Of course the Bible does not say exactly what these rewards are. However, if this theory is right and the reward Jesus is talking about is the satisfaction of knowing that my life was spent doing things that matter as opposed to things that vanish like steam off a turd it makes me stop and seriously think about where I am investing my energy and if the things that I am spending all my time on are ultimately “rewarding” or not.  

By Steve Smith

~ by chris on November 2, 2009.