The Purposes of the Heart

We all know about the "Great White Throne Judgment" (Rev 20:7-13) when God will judge sin. That includes the unsaved of all time, Satan, and his minions. Jesus promised it (John 5:28-29). It is certainly coming. We're just glad that it is the unsaved because, after all, our sins have been assigned to Christ and we're not going to face that terrible judgment. That is not to say, however, that we dodge all judgment. In Paul's first epistle to the church at Corinth, he speaks of a judgment of the works of believers.

Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw — each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Cor 3:12-15)

Important to note is 1) who is being judged here, 2) what is being judged here, and 3) what is and is not the possible outcome. It is believers being judged here, people who are building on the foundation of Christ (1 Cor 3:11). It is not sin that is being judged here, but the work done. That which is done with quality survives and that which is not does not. Then we look at the outcomes. One is reward (1 Cor 3:14) and the other is "loss." Please note that damnation is not a possible final outcome in this judgment. For the one whose work is burned up, it says, "He will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved." (1 Cor 3:15). The loss he suffers here is loss of reward (1 Cor 3:14). So those are the two possible outcomes: reward or loss of reward. What we do, then, matters. I don't know about you, but I'm not hoping to be saved "as through fire." I'd like to do better than that.

What is it, then, that makes the difference between the allegorical "gold, silver, precious stones" versus "wood, hay, straw"? Paul doesn't say here. He waits until the next chapter. In chapter 4 he talks about being a servant. He doesn't care about your judgment of him. Instead, he says, "It is the Lord who judges me." (1 Cor 4:4). Ah, here it is! On what basis? When the Lord comes, Paul says, He will "bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart." (1 Cor 4:5). The work, then, is not judged on workmanship or performance quality. It isn't judged on content so much as intent. The question Jesus will ask when we face this judgment is not so much "What did you do?" but "Why did you do it?" What were your intentions? What were your aims? What were you hoping to accomplish? Were you aiming at the glory of God, or were you hoping for fame, fortune, applause, or worse? Paul said that servants and stewards must "be found faithful." (1 Cor 4:2). To what were you faithful?

We are fully capable of putting on a good face, of doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons. We can smile and serve and preach and teach and say all the right thing, all with evil intent. True, it is possible to have good intentions and do the wrong thing. But that's not what Paul is talking about here. The task at hand comes from God and the things that we must do are clear. We must do what God commands and not do what God forbids. Easy. But Paul is warning here that why you do those things is important.

Of course, at this point we end up with a difficulty. Scripture says that our hearts are so deceitful that we can't know it (Jer 17:9). Do we know why we do what we do even when we do the right thing? Maybe not. But I'm pretty sure if we don't look we will certainly not know. Ask yourself, then. "Why am I doing this?" Why are you going to church, serving on a committee, helping your neighbor, being kind to your spouse -- doing good things? It is possible to build on the foundation of Jesus Christ. We're called to do that. Those are the things God wants from us. Whether it is good material or worthless is determined by the purposes of your heart rather than what you did. (Doing the wrong things is not building on the foundation.) So keep an eye on yourself. Ask yourself why you are doing what you do. It's a really good idea given the judgment we will all face.