Personal Approval

Personal Approval

“Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.” 1 Corinthians 4:5

According to a legend, a desert wanderer found a crystal spring of unsurpassed freshness. The water was so pure that he decided to bring some to his king. He filled a leather bottle with the water and carried it many days beneath the desert sun to the palace.

When he finally laid his offering at the feet of his sovereign, the water had become stale in the old container. But the king would not let his faithful subject even imagine it was unfit for use. He tasted it with expressions of gratitude and delight, and the loyal man left with a happy heart.

After he had gone, others sampled the water and expressed their surprise that the king had pretended to enjoy it. "Ah," said he, "it was not the water I tasted, but the love that prompted the offering."

Our risen Lord sees our attempts at service in exactly the same light. We bring to Him our time, committing ourselves to help with a certain project. Perhaps it is to help the hungry by volunteering at a local food bank. If you are like me, the first time I attempt a new things I can feel overwhelmed and even a bit confused. I might even be a bit grumpy because I’m not sure what I’m doing.

It would be easy to go home at the end of that day feeling I hadn’t accomplished much. I might judge my efforts, feeling I did not represent Christ well at all. Yet, those things are not judged until Jesus returns. At that time He discloses the purposes of our hearts. That phrase might be a bit fearful. “What, Jesus is going to bring those things to light! I could never go through that.” But, in this case anyway, the purpose for “judgment” is for God to commend us for everything we did for Him.

It is sad how much judging we do of each others’ work for God. A person doesn’t like a particular style so they leave a church. Another one won’t go to Sunday School because they don’t like the teacher. We judge all the time. What if God is saying, “That servant of mine is doing their best right now. She does things differently that you would, but she loves Me. Isn’t it wonderful that I have created each one of you to be unique servants for my kingdom.”

The Scripture clearly says we need to lay all that sort of judgment aside. Jesus will do it at the last day. He is not talking about sin or false doctrine here, but about the usual work that you and I do for God. Won’t we be shocked when that person receives a commendation from God when we stayed away from his committee, Bible Study or church?

Why is God able to commend someone so freely someone we may have trouble with? One word, the best word, the word that describes everything Christianity is about: “grace”. Grace takes us out of the judge’s chair and puts us back on the playing field with every other believer. It enables us to smooth out our ruffled feathers with the knowledge that our own service to Jesus is just as hackneyed and uncertain as any others. Grace opens our hearts to receive ministry instead of judging people.

This Sunday we celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. We remember the most glorious fact of all human history, that God’s Son, battered and torn, put to death upon a torturous cross, burst forth from the tomb on the third day fully alive! This Sunday we celebrate what we ought to remember every day, that following Christ is following the way of joy, perfect love and astonishing forgiveness.

You see, even though He had told His disciples over and over that He would rise again, no one truly believed it. Peter denied even knowing Him and the others ran away and now were hiding from the authorities. The women were the only ones brave enough to go out that morning to pay their final respects to His body. But they also had no faith for the resurrection.

If Jesus was depending on His disciples getting it perfect so He could rise from the dead, it never would have happened! In spite of their unbelief, fears and weakness, He rose to prove His eternal kingship. He rose for them all! Even for Peter, the one who bellowed, “I don’t know the man.” Jesus instructed the women to go tell the disciples…and Peter. No, it was not time for judgment. The resurrection tells us, “Go forward for Christ, serve Him in love. All will be revealed in the end so that each can receive personal approval of a job well done from the Father Himself.”