Treasure

I want to piggy-back off the last blog I wrote on 'Rewards' and dive a little deeper on the treasure we have in Jesus and Him alone. In 2 Corinthians 4:7-9 Paul writes, "But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." This treasure IN jars of clay. What does that mean? It's actually quite simple... Jesus is the treasure, we are the jars of clay. Jesus living IN average and ordinary people. Jesus is IN us and if Jesus is IN us, we are capable of extraordinary things. In fact, 'all-surpassing power' in the Greek means extremely extraordinary or surpassing excellence.

So, Jesus lives IN average, ordinary people. But because Jesus lives IN us, we become extremely extraordinary or surpassing in excellence because He is IN us. We now have power in the name of Christ. Therefore, we are able to conquer any trial, hardship, discouragement, shame, or any other struggle that the devil throws our way. We may be struck down, but we are not destroyed. And this concept is what people need to understand because trusting in Jesus does not make life perfect. In fact, if we sell people on the idea that Jesus makes life perfect, then when their life falls apart, so will their faith. Jesus gives us the ability to endure any circumstance because in His power we have strength. The reward is the life of no fear, living in peace and hope, knowing that Christ has conquered all things! Jesus brings Heaven to Earth! Our reward is the best life now, His life living through us!

Rewards

Ever been told or thought of Heaven as a bunch of mansions? Ever thought of doing 'good deeds' in order to earn Heavenly rewards? Ever said jokingly that you just lost or earned a jewel on your crown or have this fantasy idea of what Heaven looks like?

As I've been challenged lately on my views of Heaven, I've come to find out that you will never find the plural phrase of the word 'reward' in the New Testament. Paul spoke of a reward or prize in running the race and reaching the end but what is the prize? In Matthew, you read of Jesus saying to store up treasures in Heaven but as I've studied that, treasures aren't rewards. In fact, you don't earn treasures...you find them. And once you find them, you can either invest it or leave it as if you never found it. That's an interesting thought.

Pastor Andrew Farley says, "As humans, we always seem to be looking for a punishment or reward-based motivation to keep our behavior on track." And as I've talked to believers, this seems to be a common factor. Farley goes on to say, "God doesn't want us to think and act in certain ways because we're seeking to accumulate heavenly merchandise. Just as Paul was willing to lose all things for the sake of knowing Christ, we too should make it our agenda to know Him! For more wealth in Heaven? No, we want to know Christ simply because it's the greatest thing going on planet Earth."

Wow. Is Jesus enough? Frankly, the reward is Jesus. A life filled with unconditional love, sufficient grace, and a reality that in Christ you are perfect, worthy, righteous, and forgiven...a saint, saved by grace. The reward is allowing Jesus to live your life in the here and now. Will you store up treasures or should I say an attitude, a love (action) that endures forever or will you pursue the unfulfilling success and dead works that don't earn you 'jewels'? The choice is yours, the reward is now!

Making A Difference vs. Making A Point

If you're like me, you like to prove people wrong when they make ridiculous claims. I'll never forget when Brent Boschman claimed he could eat 3 boxes of Mac & Cheese in one sitting. Joe Smith quickly called him out. To our surprise, not only did the man eat 3 boxes of Mac & Cheese but he did it in under 30 minutes. What initially was us trying to make a point that his claim was absurd, Brent threw it back in the face of all his doubters and proved us all wrong. Brent made his point!

There is nothing wrong with proving your point. I do it all the time. But the question I want to ask is, are you more concerned with proving a point than making a difference? I want to focus on Christians who feel like they need to make a point, proving their faith in Christ at whatever the cost rather than caring and loving people in an effort to make a difference. We shove evangelism in their face or through a track without genuinely loving someone. We talk over others in an effort to 'win' the discussion. We rarely listen, not knowing you can learn a lot about a person by simply listening to them. We think we are making an impact for Christ when we argue with other religious people or agnostics. We think our stupid "Christ-like" bumper stickers or Christianese cliches will attract people to the Gospel. We win 'battles' but in reality we lose the war. Have you ever had a conversation with someone that was overly passionate or unattractively pressuring you into believing what they believed, whether that is Christianity, products, sports, or any other kind of knowledge? Even if you agree with them, more often than not you take the other side just to possibly prove them wrong. I'm afraid our techniques in evangelism is actually causing more harm than good.

Philadelphia Flyer coach Peter Lavoilette says, "Don't just play the game to let it go by, play the game to make a difference." We play sports in hopes of making a difference in the outcome of the game. We've all been there. Thinking about making the last minute shot or goal and becoming the town hero for the evening. Just like in sports, we should be more concerned with making a difference than making a point. Are people attracted to you because you show them the love of Christ? Do people know you actually care about them? Do people feel comfortable telling you what they think or believe, knowing you won't pass judgment? People will never listen to what you have to say about Christianity until they know you genuinely care for them.