Today I speak to you as a free man. School is out for summer. I haven’t had this much freedom since I was a teenager.
It’s been a good year, though. Not only have I learned to rely on God and witnessed more of His faithfulness, I learned a lot about my subject areas. I was truly challenged by the subject of economics. The subject sounds complicated but the concepts are simple to understand. I told my students that economics is common sense with complicated vocabulary. There’s a single idea that underlies all of economics and it’s this: every decision you and I make, whether large or small, is based on whether or not it will make us happy. In other words, our personal happiness is what determines every single choice that we make. We choose what we believe will bring us the greatest happiness.
Let’s be brutally honest for a moment. Every time you and I are faced with a decision that’s going to require something of us, there’s a question that arises in our minds: What’s in it for me? A few years ago I read that that’s the most selfish, immature question a person could ask, but as I’ve lived a little more, I find that everybody, at all stages of life, all levels of maturity ask it. What’s in it for me?
As a pastor, I found this concept to be troubling. How do we call Christians to a life of commitment and sacrifice if they’re internally asking: What’s in it for me? Jesus said “take up your cross and follow Me.” In other words, throw your life away for Him. The person carrying their cross was headed for certain death. If I stand and say Jesus calls us to offer up our lives for Him, and people are asking “What’s in it for me?” what incentive could I possibly offer? Salvation is a gift by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, so that incentive is gone.
After a person comes to faith in Christ, why would they trouble themselves to do anything for Him? What possible motivation is there to do more than respond to an alter call or raise your hand during a prayer?
We’re all asking, “What’s in it for me?” Why should I pray? Why should I serve? Why should I study the Bible? Why should I share my faith? Why should I go to the trouble to lead? Why should I do anything further than sit on my blessed assurance and wait for heaven? What’s in it for me? As it turns out, there is something in it for us. Even more startling it’s a question that God wants us to ask and that He desires to answer. Let me show you a clear example.
Jesus encountered a rich, young ruler and told him to sell all of his possession. The disciples were blown away when Jesus said that it was hard for a rich man to get into heaven. At this point a question arose in the mind of Peter. He, like the rest of the disciples, made it through Jesus’ sifting process and made serious commitments to follow Him. They understood that they weren’t going to be powerful or wealthy or famous by following Christ, so the next question by Peter is obvious:
Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” Matthew 19:27-30 (NIV)
Did you notice that Jesus did not rebuke Peter for asking a selfish and immature question? Instead, He eagerly listed the benefits the disciples could expect for their commitment and sacrifice. I think it’s important to understand the heart of God before we go any further. The Lord wants to reward us. He is a generous giver and rewarding His children is sheer delight. (Please understand that I am not talking about salvation. Eternal life is a gift, but rewards are earned.) God wants us to have faith and to go after His rewards:
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. Hebrews 11:6
God wants you to ask, “What’s in it for me?” He wants to reveal His rewards to you. He wants you to seek them by faith. You will demonstrate more faith and actually produce more for God if you have His incentives in mind.
Humanity demonstrates this again and again. There’s a great book out called Freakonomics that demonstrates how incentives govern the behavior of everyone from public school teachers to summo wrestlers. Many government bureaucracies are inefficient and wasteful because the employees cannot profit from their labor. If they save tax money it just goes back into the treasury to be redistributed to another agency. Communism doesn’t produce strong economies because workers are producing for the state. They have no reason to work hard or do a good job. Karl Marx should have read his history books a little more carefully. He could have learned from the Pilgrims in America. When they first landed at Plymouth all the land was held in common and everything that was produced went into a collective storehouse. They nearly starved. Finally, the leaders decided to give the people plots of land and keep what they produced. They only had to contribute a portion of what they produced. From that point on the Pilgrims experienced abundance. The threat of starvation was an issue of the past.
We’re wired up for incentives. “What’s in it for me” is a part of our nature – physically and spiritually. Let’s look at God’s two-part incentive plan:
God’s Incentive Program … for Later
1. More ruling authority
…you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. v. 28
We must divorce from our minds the idea of egalitarianism in eternity. We will not all have equal status. Your commitment and sacrifice to the cause of Christ in this life will determine your status in the world to come. That probably makes you uncomfortable and irritated. That’s because you live in modern America. Our ideas of egalitarianism arose out of secular, enlightenment philosophy. It is also a product of socialism, which is a fairly recent and short-lived historical phenomenon. It doesn’t work in the real world and it won’t be a part of eternity. The idea is not biblical. From beginning to end, the Bible portrays the spiritual and physical worlds existing under various levels of authority. There is even an authority structure in the nature of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There’s no inferiority, but there is a chain of authority.
Jesus told His disciples that they’d reign and rule with Him in the world to come. That’s what the thrones represent. We will have ruling authority over a re-created earth. Those who have sacrificed the most, served the most, given the most, devoted the most in Jesus’ name will have higher levels of ruling authority when the kingdom of heaven is fully established on the earth. Jesus alludes to this reward in his parable of the 3 stewards. Each servant was entrusted with a certain amount of money. They one who produced the most gained the highest reward when the King returned:
"’Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ’Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’” Luke 19:17 (NIV)
The New Testament cites the reward of various crowns. A crown represents ruling authority. Here are five crowns that can be earned.
The Crown of Life
James 1:12; Rev. 2:10
The crown of life is given to those who follow through for Christ. They respond to God’s call and do not give up even though the going get tough or they lose their lives in the process. They overcome all obstacles for the cause of Christ.
The Incorruptible Crown
1 Cor. 9:24-25
This crown goes to those who are serious about spiritual disciplines. If you devote yourself to consistent Bible study, prayer, fasting, service, worship, solitude – practices that train you spiritually – this is part of your reward.
The Crown of Rejoicing
1 Thes. 2:19; Phil. 4:1
If you actively and intentionally share your faith and then help new believers to walk with Christ, this is the crown you will receive.
The Crown of Glory
1 Peter 5:1-4
The crown of glory is given to those who provide spiritual leadership in the church. Elders, pastors, ministry leaders, small group leaders, Sunday school teachers and parents who faithfully shepherd the people of God will receive this reward.
The Crown of Righteousness
2 Timothy 4:6-8
This crown goes to Christian who are serious about personal purity. If you strive after holiness of words, thoughts, and deeds the crown of righteousness will be your reward.
2. More glory
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much… v. 29
I’ll admit that this incentive is vague. Jesus promised that those who give up what is precious to them for His sake will receive far more in return. If we trade in our comforts for a life of affliction because we’ve stepped onto the frontlines of the battle for the kingdom of God, there is a hundred-fold spiritual reward. Paul comes closer than any of the New Testament writers in describing it.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor. 4:16-17 (NIV)
Sacrificing for Christ, suffering for Christ, enduring persecution for Christ achieves more glory. Somehow our new selves will be more beautiful, more dazzling, perhaps more powerful because of our commitment in our old lives. The book of Hebrews also offers an intriguing glimpse of this idea:
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Hebrews 11:32-35
Some scholars argue that the “better resurrection” is simply the resurrection of the righteous as opposed to the resurrection of the unrighteous. That may be so, but contextually there seems to be more that the author of Hebrews had in mind. Hebrews 11 is about those who went beyond faith as a noun and lived it as a verb. Their actions set them apart. The author could be informing us that somehow, mysteriously, the scars that we receive for Christ’s sake in this life, will become beauty marks in the next.
If you’ve had a difficult time swallowing this message so far, the next point is really going to pinch. One of God’s rewards will be …
3. More of God
Jesus’ offered this difficult incentive to the disciples as well:
“But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” v. 30
What does this enigmatic promise mean? We get a clue from the book of Luke. Jesus blasted the smug religious leaders of His day by telling them they’d be excluded from the big party God is going to throw in the coming age. Gentiles, prostitutes, and tax collectors would be in attendance because they had accepted Christ as their King, but the self-righteous would be absent. Jesus concluded with these words:
“People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last.” Luke 13:29-30 (NIV)
His reference here is to the banqueting table. In ancient times, your place at the table spoke volumes. Those seated nearest to the host were most honored guest, the most highly esteemed. The further away from the host you were seated, the less honor and esteem. His point to the religious leaders of His day was that people who seem insignificant now could be highly honored in the age to come. Those who are despised by the rich, powerful, and famous, if they are despised because of their total commitment to Christ, will be the honored guests at the party of the ages.
The table was also a place of fellowship in ancient times. All of this imagery tells me that we will not all have equal fellowship with God. Some will be closer to Him than others. There’s no unfairness in this. John was called the “disciple who Jesus love” because of the greater intimacy of his relationship with the Lord. Something about his friendship with Christ was deeper than the rest. None of the other disciples rejected this. They all loved and felt loved by the Lord, but they each had different levels of relationship. In the same way, our closeness to God, our fellowship with Him, our seat at His table will be determined by what we do here and now. In many cases the first will be last and the last will be first.
Before I finish let me rip off financial expert, Dave Ramsey. He says that if you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else. Let me apply it to God’s incentives: If you will live for Christ like no one else, later you can live with Christ like no one else.
God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He wants to pour eternal rewards out all over you. If you will live for Christ like no one else, later you can live with Christ like no one else.
Does that excite you? Do God’s incentives energize and motivate you? They are waiting. Step up your commitment to communion with Christ, community with your fellow believers, and your commission to reach the world. It’s risky, it’s sometimes painful, it’ll probably cost you everything, but remember: If you will live for Christ like no one else, later you can live with Christ like no one else.
