Another good friend, who is very alert to social justice issues, asks:
In a church that is full of people living well below their means, radically helping the poor and the least of these, concerned and working for true social justice--not moralistic political power--a church that is not worldly the way the American church is...then some discussion of rewards might be useful... What's the difference between the health and wealth gospel of Joel Osteen and teaching about crowns/mansions in heaven? Just the location? Can we appeal to greed so long as it is in heaven? Greed deferred is still greed. How can rewards be motivators in our love and pursuit of God, since then in just some spiritualized way, our pursuit of God is then just a pursuit of ourselves?
My response:
I understand your socio-politico concerns about not over-emphasizing rewards in order to serve as a counter-force to not appeal to our naturally greedy natures. But I say that whatever the Scriptures teach, we need to teach it, openly, completely and in balance, "the whole counsel of God", at some time, and not totally neglect any aspect of God's revealed truth -- for not everyone is any congregation is at the same place of what they need to hear. Otherwise we risk playing "god" with our subjective evaluations of what we think people need based on our biases and out of our temptation to manipulate them.
I think that appeal to future self-interest in heaven is purely an appeal to faith, genuine, God-blessed faith: forgo what you want now, in faith that there really is something better beyond the blue (cf. sung about in black spirituals) -- not just because I "can't have it now" (since I'm poor) but because I choose to forgo present pleasures now because I trust Jesus' promise: sell what you have and give to the poor, THEN YOU WILL HAVE TREASURE IN HEAVEN. What is that, if not an appeal to personal future self-interest? God created us, so He knows how to motivate us. Yet it requires a truckload of faith to DO IT.
That's why we don't do it. We don't have THAT much faith. If we did, then why don't we give 50% or more of our income away for missions and relief of African poverty and live very meagerly now? Because our motivation isn't strong enough! Does that mean we don't love God enough? No. I don’t think the only motivational question is "Do I love God?" but "Do I trust God?" In other words, do I have the faith of Abraham? God didn't commend Abram's love for God, but for his faith that God would keep His promises of BLESSING to him and to his descendants -- i.e. Abe had self-interest and self-promotion involved, but it took a truckload of faith (waiting 25 years, then being willing to kill his son) to appropriate it.
Joel Osteen's appeal to health and wealth NOW is not an appeal to real faith. It's an appeal short-term immediate-results faith that scams people to give now to get more material goods in a short time on earth, and that is SIGHT, not faith. But Hebrews 11 talks of those who looked for God's "city" (future enjoyment) after their torture and death. That is real faith, even with anticipation of something "good for me".
Self interest is not intrinsically evil. We are to love others AS we love ourselves. God expects us to have a healthy, honest self love, as long as we don't only love self. By sacrificially giving to missions, or to ease poverty, we are loving others, and God says when you do that now, He will reward us for us later. 100 fold. The disciples asked, what will we get for leaving all behind to follow Jesus? That's a legitimate question. Jesus didn't scold them for asking it, but assured them that it will be worth their sacrifice. In the end, they will look back and be glad they gave up temporary worldly pleasures -- just like Moses. In Hebrews 11:25-26 - He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.
What reward did Moses look forward to receiving? Just seeing God face to face in heaven someday? No. He could have had that even if he had stayed in Egypt, become Pharaoh and kept his faith in God. He still would have been "saved". But he wanted more than 50 years of easy existence on earth and a "I barely made it" pass into heaven. He wanted eternal rewards. Forever! Whether that means sitting closer to God's throne, or ruling more galaxies or cities, or having more crowns, or enjoying a bigger heavenly mansion on earth or in the clouds, or hearing a louder "Well done" from his Creator, Moses knew that there was GREAT VALUE in obeying God, even though it cost him plenty in terms of suffering on earth in order to get it.
So there HAS to be a distinction of rewards form God in the future, with some receiving more than others. I take God's Word at face value, and any "theology" we adopt has to bend to fit the Word, not vice versa.
So, to answer your question, is greed deferred still greed? I say no. Delayed gratification is always viewed as a sign of maturity and responsibility and wisdom, while grabbing for immediate gratification now (through illegal drugs, illicit sex, stealing to get rich quick, killing to get a promotion) is always unloving and evil and selfish. Those who defer income to a retirement account on earth and are careful with consumer debt are wise; those who spend it as fast as they get it on booze and prostitutes (a.k.a. prodigal behavior) and get over their heads in debt are foolish.
Is the "wise" person just as "greedy" as the "foolish" person? He is actually doing a better job of looking out for his (and his family's) best interests. Does that make him "greedy"? Not necessarily. What if the "wise" person has been tithing the whole time, and funding his own medical missions trips to Mozambique, and feeding the homeless in his community, thereby storing up treasures in heaven while at the same time storing up retirement funds for his family? I would commend that behavior, and I think God would, too. But the person who fuels his lusts for pleasure and power and possessions through immediate conspicuous consumption and doesn't share generously (1 Timothy 6) -- now THAT'S the truly greedy, short-sighted, stupid person -- in my book and (according to the Scripture) in God's book as well.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Rewards in Heaven, Part One
In response to my previous post, I've been asked by a good friend with a Reformed education: "Will all those who enter the kingdom also inherit the kingdom, or only some? Are there different categories of saved people, the spiritual, who are heirs of the kingdom, as opposed to the carnal, who are mere citizens of the kingdom? Would this explain how an unrighteous believer (i.e. a Christian who persists in sin) can be saved from hell, but not share in the inheritance of enjoying rewards in the kingdom during the millennial reign of Christ?"
My response: Yes! However, I want to be clear that I see a full spectrum of obedience/trust among born-again believers, from minimal to monumental faithfulness, not just a simple categorization of either spiritual or carnal. And I'm hesitant to be quite so free with waving the grace-wand on those who "persist in" blatant rebellion, as I would also have doubts as to whether they ever had a genuine conversion experience. "Some went out from us for they were really never part of us" says 1 John 2:19. But yes, I think it's possible for a "true believer" who is living "in sin" to still go to heaven based on his/her being born again genuinely and permanently, receiving God's gift of eternal life by faith. But I wouldn't call that person a disciple or an heir. Even though he is still a "son", by virtue of being born again by grace, he is "cut out of the inheritance" of added blessings and rewards, or anything beyond merely being part of God's family. In other words, his eternal salvation is not based on his own works of perseverence or evidences of faithfulness -- but is based entirely on grace through faith in Christ alone.
The thought I'm pondering now is that Christ's invitation to enter the kingdom may not at all be primarily about "being saved and going to heaven" as we evangelicals have normally interpreted the focus to be, but rather, Jesus may be inviting us to enter into "kingdom living" now by means of living the way Christ instructs us to live (Matthew 5-7) Of course, those who enter fully into this kingdom of God on earth will also continue in this kingdom during the millennium and in heaven, both as citizens and as reward-receiving heirs.
Perhaps a "coming to the middle" view may be to envision "rewards" not in a tangible way (which is so offensive to amillennialists), but in terms of closer proximity to Christ in heaven, of having a more intimate walk with Him in His inner circle, or a more prominent role in running the universe (such as the "sit at my right and left" kinds of positions, which Christ affirmed are real, even though He wasn't going to assign them necessarily to James and John!)
Or we can envision all these rewards taking place in the earthly millennial kingdom, with full equality to follow in eternity, post Revelation 22. But for that view, we still require consistent literal and normal interpretation of prophecy, rather than spiritualizing God's Old Testament promises away.
Monday, December 26, 2005
Beatitudes Revisited
I'm reading Dallas Willard's "The Divine Conspiracy" and just finished chapter four on interpreting the beatitudes in Matthew 5/Luke 6. Most people assume, and I have preached a series on it, that the eight "Blessed are..." statements are a description of the kind of person God wants us to be. (Bill Gothard says it is a description of the character of Christ, of "beautiful attitudes".) When I preached on these many verses years ago, I went a step further and turned it into a logical sequence from humility at conversion (poor in spirit) to missionary martyrdom (in persecution). The goal, I thought, is for us to "be more mournful over our sin, hunger more for righteousness, be more meek, etc." in order to become more Christlike.
One can make sense of it that way. Most do. We try to emulate these eight qualities, then give up in despair when they see the lack of congruence in our lives.
However, Dallas turns this all on its head. Rather than this being a new list of legalistic standards that, when practiced, make God happier with us, (by works), it is, instead, a list of negatives in the eyes of our society, a set of descriptions of what we, in our humanness, don't want and don't respect. It points to those people in our world that we tend to ignore or avoid, to those we tend to think "are not going to cut it," and elevates their status to full equality in God's kingdom.
So, rather than "poor in spirit" being a synonym for humility, it describes a person who feels like a zero, who has no self-confidence, who is looked down on in society -- and Jesus says that His kingdom is available and open to that person, as well as the "high spirited, confident, popular" person that our world admires. The meek and merciful person who gets taken advantage of and stepped on, the broken-hearted sad person who has suffered many losses and griefs, the waffling peacemaking person who always gets caught in the middle of opposing arguments and is friends with neither side, the one who is constantly frantically seeking justice but can't find it, the pure-in-heart perfectionist who has OCD and is never happy with things being "right enough" for her tastes, the one who is under persecution and being treated miserably -- all of these people are welcomed to find blessedness and bliss by taking up their place within God's kingdom. God's kingdom has nothing to do with external appearances, or status in society, or status in the church, but has everything to do with living life (doing what Jesus says) out of the "center" of genuine, perfect, agape love.
In a culture that says "forget the losers and praise the beautiful, rich, sexy, talented, smart", Jesus says, "No; my kingdom doesn't leave out anybody; it's open to all, even the worst among us." That's why thieves and prostitutes are getting into Christ's kingdom before the Pharisees are -- because they are humble enough to accept a free gift and not try to earn it.
Most people think of "entering the kingdom" as being saved and gaining fire insurance from heaven and a ticket to heaven. Therefore "those who practice sin" won't make it to heaven. Or, in a rewards theology, habiitual sinners won't "inherit" the kingdom, which means they may get to heaven, but as paupers, by the skin of their teeth, without any rewards. But if "the kingdom" is framed primarily in terms of "living life now on earth by continually consciously submitting to God's rule", then "not entering the kingdom" means primarily that these people live THIS current earthly life outside of the power and blessing of God's kingdom now. They live like our culture tells them to live, selfishly, striving for more money, sex and power, rather than from a heart that is fully surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, fully committed to live as Jesus' apprentice in all aspects.
Given this understanding, the majority of "Christians" who attend church are not yet living in the kingdom, for their lifestyle is more world-directed than God-directed. They may still go to heaven when they die, because they have accepted the gift of justification by faith alone, but right now, they are unknowingly being unfaithful citizens of the kingdom of heaven while on their pilgrimmage to that promised land. Why? Because they believe that the "best life" involves getting all the pleasures and possessions and power they can now, in their own strength, rather than relaxing and trusting God to take care of them.
Here's the reality: God's way of life, living as Jesus instructed, produces the best life NOW as well as the best life LATER. Living a disciple's life of "trust and obey" now yields the best life on earth, by abiding in the Vine, walking in the Spirit, seeking God's guidance, seeing reality through God's eyes, loving God and loving people relentlessly. But it also yields the best life later, in heaven, as Christ promises eternal rewards (cf. talents, minas, "govern more cities", be closer to Christ both in proximity and position for all eternity).
See chapters 24-26 in my book, "What To Do Until Christ Comes" as well as books on eternal rewards -- such as "Treasure Principle" by Randy Alcorn and "A Life God Rewards" by Bruce Wilkinson.
Both now and later, "closeness with God" is our greatest reward and highest treasure, but God, in His graciousness, quantifies this by transforming our character into Christlikeness on earth (allowing us to live a "kingdom life" now, being progressively more sanctified, in the midst of hostile territory) and by giving us crowns/responsibilities in the millennial kingdom and in heaven (allowing us to live a pure and complete "kingdom life" without any competition, once Satan and his demons and human followers are all confined in hell and once our sin nature is removed in the glorification of our spirit, soul and body.)
My job, as a pastor, is to model this God-pleasing, kingdom-focused life, then teach it to others. Only this has the power to tranform the world -- one person, one family, one church, one city, one nation, at a time.
One can make sense of it that way. Most do. We try to emulate these eight qualities, then give up in despair when they see the lack of congruence in our lives.
However, Dallas turns this all on its head. Rather than this being a new list of legalistic standards that, when practiced, make God happier with us, (by works), it is, instead, a list of negatives in the eyes of our society, a set of descriptions of what we, in our humanness, don't want and don't respect. It points to those people in our world that we tend to ignore or avoid, to those we tend to think "are not going to cut it," and elevates their status to full equality in God's kingdom.
So, rather than "poor in spirit" being a synonym for humility, it describes a person who feels like a zero, who has no self-confidence, who is looked down on in society -- and Jesus says that His kingdom is available and open to that person, as well as the "high spirited, confident, popular" person that our world admires. The meek and merciful person who gets taken advantage of and stepped on, the broken-hearted sad person who has suffered many losses and griefs, the waffling peacemaking person who always gets caught in the middle of opposing arguments and is friends with neither side, the one who is constantly frantically seeking justice but can't find it, the pure-in-heart perfectionist who has OCD and is never happy with things being "right enough" for her tastes, the one who is under persecution and being treated miserably -- all of these people are welcomed to find blessedness and bliss by taking up their place within God's kingdom. God's kingdom has nothing to do with external appearances, or status in society, or status in the church, but has everything to do with living life (doing what Jesus says) out of the "center" of genuine, perfect, agape love.
In a culture that says "forget the losers and praise the beautiful, rich, sexy, talented, smart", Jesus says, "No; my kingdom doesn't leave out anybody; it's open to all, even the worst among us." That's why thieves and prostitutes are getting into Christ's kingdom before the Pharisees are -- because they are humble enough to accept a free gift and not try to earn it.
Most people think of "entering the kingdom" as being saved and gaining fire insurance from heaven and a ticket to heaven. Therefore "those who practice sin" won't make it to heaven. Or, in a rewards theology, habiitual sinners won't "inherit" the kingdom, which means they may get to heaven, but as paupers, by the skin of their teeth, without any rewards. But if "the kingdom" is framed primarily in terms of "living life now on earth by continually consciously submitting to God's rule", then "not entering the kingdom" means primarily that these people live THIS current earthly life outside of the power and blessing of God's kingdom now. They live like our culture tells them to live, selfishly, striving for more money, sex and power, rather than from a heart that is fully surrendered to the Lordship of Christ, fully committed to live as Jesus' apprentice in all aspects.
Given this understanding, the majority of "Christians" who attend church are not yet living in the kingdom, for their lifestyle is more world-directed than God-directed. They may still go to heaven when they die, because they have accepted the gift of justification by faith alone, but right now, they are unknowingly being unfaithful citizens of the kingdom of heaven while on their pilgrimmage to that promised land. Why? Because they believe that the "best life" involves getting all the pleasures and possessions and power they can now, in their own strength, rather than relaxing and trusting God to take care of them.
Here's the reality: God's way of life, living as Jesus instructed, produces the best life NOW as well as the best life LATER. Living a disciple's life of "trust and obey" now yields the best life on earth, by abiding in the Vine, walking in the Spirit, seeking God's guidance, seeing reality through God's eyes, loving God and loving people relentlessly. But it also yields the best life later, in heaven, as Christ promises eternal rewards (cf. talents, minas, "govern more cities", be closer to Christ both in proximity and position for all eternity).
See chapters 24-26 in my book, "What To Do Until Christ Comes" as well as books on eternal rewards -- such as "Treasure Principle" by Randy Alcorn and "A Life God Rewards" by Bruce Wilkinson.
Both now and later, "closeness with God" is our greatest reward and highest treasure, but God, in His graciousness, quantifies this by transforming our character into Christlikeness on earth (allowing us to live a "kingdom life" now, being progressively more sanctified, in the midst of hostile territory) and by giving us crowns/responsibilities in the millennial kingdom and in heaven (allowing us to live a pure and complete "kingdom life" without any competition, once Satan and his demons and human followers are all confined in hell and once our sin nature is removed in the glorification of our spirit, soul and body.)
My job, as a pastor, is to model this God-pleasing, kingdom-focused life, then teach it to others. Only this has the power to tranform the world -- one person, one family, one church, one city, one nation, at a time.