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The Reward Motive In The Christian Life

When we study the opening verses of , we are immediately confronted with one most important question—what is the place of the reward motive in the Christian life?

Three times in this section, Jesus speaks of God rewarding those who have given to him the kind of service which he desires (, , ).

This question is so important that we will do well to pause to examine it before we go on to study the chapter in detail.

Ask someone to read Matthew 6:6,18

When we study the opening verses of , we are immediately confronted with one most important question—what is the place of the reward motive in the Christian life?

Three times in this section, Jesus speaks of God rewarding those who have given to him the kind of service which he desires (, , ).

This question is so important that we will do well to pause to examine it before we go on to study the chapter in detail.

It is very often stated that the reward motive has no place whatsoever in the Christian life.

It is held that we must be good for the sake of being good, that virtue is its own reward, and that the whole conception of reward must be banished from the Christian life.

Barclay, W. (2001).

The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 206).

Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

There was an old saint who used to say that he would wish to quench all the fires of hell with water, and to burn up all the joys of heaven with fire, in order that men and women seek for goodness for nothing but goodness’ sake, and in order that the idea of reward and punishment might be totally eliminated from life.

There was an old saint who used to say that he would wish to quench all the fires of hell with water, and to burn up all the joys of heaven with fire, in order that men and women seek for goodness for nothing but goodness’ sake, and in order that the idea of reward and punishment might be totally eliminated from life.

There was an old saint who used to say that he would wish to quench all the fires of hell with water, and to burn up all the joys of heaven with fire, in order that men and women seek for goodness for nothing but goodness’ sake, and in order that the idea of reward and punishment might be totally eliminated from life.

On the face of it, that point of view is very fine and noble; but it is not the point of view which Jesus held.

We have already seen that three times in this passage Jesus speaks about reward.

The right kind of almsgiving, the right kind of prayer and the right kind of fasting will all have their reward.

On the face of it, that point of view is very fine and noble; but it is not the point of view which Jesus held.

We have already seen that three times in this passage Jesus speaks about reward.

The right kind of almsgiving, the right kind of prayer and the right kind of fasting will all have their reward.

Nor is this an isolated instance of the idea of reward in the teaching of Jesus.

He says of those who loyally bear persecution, who suffer insult without bitterness, that their reward will be great in heaven ().

He says that those who give to one of these little ones a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple will not lose their reward ().

At least part of the teaching of the parable of the talents is that faithful service will receive its reward ().

In the parable of the last judgment, the plain teaching is that there is reward and punishment in accordance with our reaction to the needs of others ().

It is abundantly clear that Jesus did not hesitate to speak in terms of rewards and punishments.

And it may well be that we ought to be careful that we do not try to be more spiritual than Jesus was in our thinking about this matter of reward.

There are certain obvious facts which we must note.

Barclay, W. (2001).

The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., pp.

206–207).

Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

Fact Number One

(1) It is an obvious rule of life that any action which achieves nothing is futile and meaningless.

A goodness which achieves no end would be a meaningless goodness.

As has been very truly said, ‘Unless a thing is good for something, it is good for nothing.’

Unless the Christian life has an aim and a goal which it is a joy to obtain, it becomes largely without meaning.

Anyone who believes in the Christian way and the Christian promise cannot believe that goodness can have no result beyond itself.

(1) It is an obvious rule of life that any action which achieves nothing is futile and meaningless.

A goodness which achieves no end would be a meaningless goodness.

As has been very truly said, ‘Unless a thing is good for something, it is good for nothing.’

Unless the Christian life has an aim and a goal which it is a joy to obtain, it becomes largely without meaning.

Anyone who believes in the Christian way and the Christian promise cannot believe that goodness can have no result beyond itself.

Barclay, W. (2001).

The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 207).

Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

(2) To banish all rewards and punishments from the idea of religion is in effect to say that injustice has the last word.

It cannot reasonably be held that the end of the good person and the end of the bad person are one and the same.

That would simply mean that God does not care whether we are good or not.

It would mean, to put it crudely and bluntly, that there is no point in being good, and no special reason why we should live one kind of life instead of another.

To eliminate all rewards and punishments is really to say that in God there is neither justice nor love.

(2) To banish all rewards and punishments from the idea of religion is in effect to say that injustice has the last word.

It cannot reasonably be held that the end of the good person and the end of the bad person are one and the same.

That would simply mean that God does not care whether we are good or not.

It would mean, to put it crudely and bluntly, that there is no point in being good, and no special reason why we should live one kind of life instead of another.

To eliminate all rewards and punishments is really to say that in God there is neither justice nor love.

Barclay, W. (2001).

The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., pp.

207–208).

Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

Rewards and punishments are necessary in order to make sense of life.

In his collection called Last

Rewards and punishments are necessary in order to make sense of life.

In his collection called Last Poems, A. E. Housman wrote:

Yonder, see the morning blink, The sun is up, and so must I, To wash and dress and eat and drink And

look at things and talk and thinkAnd work, and God knows why.

And often have I washed and dressed, And what’s to show for all my pain?

Let me lie abed and rest; Ten thousand times I’ve done my best, And all’s to do again.

Poems, A. E. Housman wrote:

The sun is up, and so must I,

To wash and dress and eat and drink

And look at things and talk and think

And work, and God knows why.

And often have I washed and dressed,

And what’s to show for all my pain?

Let me lie abed and rest;

Ten thousand times I’ve done my best,

And all’s to do again.

If there are no rewards and no punishments, then that poem’s view of life is true.

Action is meaningless, and all effort goes unavailingly whistling down the wind.

Barclay, W. (2001).

The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 208).

Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

The Christian Idea Of Reward

But having reached this point with the idea of reward in the Christian life, there are certain things about which we must be clear.

But having reached this point with the idea of reward in the Christian life, there are certain things about which we must be clear.

Barclay, W. (2001).

The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 208).

Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

(1) When Jesus spoke of reward, he was very definitely not thinking in terms of material reward.

(1) When Jesus spoke of reward, he was very definitely not thinking in terms of material reward.

(1) When Jesus spoke of reward, he was very definitely not thinking in terms of material reward.

Barclay, W. (2001).

The Gospel of Matthew (Third Ed., p. 208).

Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press.

It is quite true that in the Old Testament the ideas of goodness and prosperity are closely connected.

If a man prospered, if his fields were fertile and his harvest great, if his children were many and his fortune large, it was taken as a proof that he was a good man.