I have a friend who is a theologian and we have been talking since I became a Christian last November. He believes that we will receive different rewards in heaven based on the good works we do on earth. He also thinks that it is fine for this (the idea of rewards) to be the motivation for performing good works. I am not a theologian and I haven't read the whole Bible since college-and that was a while ago-but that feels off to me, at least the motivation part. What do you think?
Also, last week on this site I came across a post that said something about different levels of Hell, as if it were common knowledge that there are different levels. Are there different levels of Hell? Like is Hitler going to be worse off than the guy who occasionally lied a little?
There is a common idea that there are different rewards in heaven, perhaps in part because Scripture does scribe seeking our treasure in heaven, and of different crowns, such as the crown of life (James 1:12) or the uncorruptible crown of 1 Corinthians 9:25.
But I think this idea of differing rewards, or like that there is better or lesser afterlife swag based upon our performance completely and utterly misses the point.
Now the thing about crowns here is that what it often refers to is the victory wreath or garland, the prize awarded to victors in an athletic competition or in the military. The crown symbolizes victory, of having overcome the contest, ran the race, fought the fight, won the battle etc. And so this is the language the New Testament uses to describe our victory. The New Testament on a number of occasions borrows the athletic and military customs of the Greco-Roman world in which it was written to show an analogy of the Christian life.
We are running the race like a marathon runner, our eyes to be set facing forward, toward Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our faith. We are called to endure to the end. To struggle and to persevere to the very end. So that, in the end, when we stand before the Lord, we hear those words, "Well done good and faithful servant, come and enter into your Master's rest", and we are given the crown of victory--we have run the race, we have fought the good fight, and now laurels of victory rested upon our head, we rest in presence of the Lord.
But let's consider another place in Scripture, the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard. Jesus tells us about the master of a vineyard who early in the day hires some laborers for a set price to work the vineyard, and then as the day goes on, hires more laborers. Until it is near the end of the day, and the master of the vineyard hires more laborers who work only one hour. Then the master gives the laborers the promised amount, which was the same for all. Then the laborers who began early complained, for they were paid the same as those who only worked the last hour, then the master of the vineyard says,
"
Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" - Matthew 20:13-15
I am personally of the position that heaven isn't about rewards at all. It's not about mansions, or crowns, or treasures. In fact, ideas like that completely miss the point of everything we're taught.
The treasures we are to seek are not swag, either in this life or the next, but rather to re-priortize what actually matters. Namely this: that it is our neighbor who matters, to love them, to serve them, to learn humility, to suffer with patient endurance, and to learn how to forsake our lives for the cross of Jesus Christ. Great is our reward in heaven, not because there's great big swag to be had if we were super special Christians; but because in Christ we are being taught to change the very way in which we think about what matters, about what is important.
What is treasure anyway? Is it stuff? Is swag? No. If we are paying attention to Jesus then our treasure is the kingdom of God, where the least is greatest, the last is first, where the greatest among us is the slave.
What matters is people, what matters is love, what matters is kindness, what matters is compassion and empathy and mercy. What matters is justice for the vulnerable and the rejected and the outcast. What matters is the caring of widows and orphans. What matters is what matters to God, and for what reason the Lord came.
More than that, I think there's a danger to be had in thinking like this. Read with seriousness what the Lord says in Matthew ch. 7, those who say to Him, "Lord Lord!" The ones who think they deserve a place in glory, because their hearts are set on glory, they pursued glory their entire lives, but then they hear, "I never knew you."
I'm not saying you're friend is damned, just to be clear. Rather, my point is that when we see the Christian life as the pursuit and possession of glory, rather than the pursuit and possession of the cross, we have severely gotten everything wrong.
-CryptoLutheran
