If all Christians are definitely going to heaven when we die, what difference do our actions make anyway? Have you ever wondered? In this pastor appreciation month, I give special thanks for Jim Hallcom, my pastor at Rhein Valley Baptist when I was in middle school and early high school. He taught me this passage when I asked him a question about eternal security.
Paul started the church in Corinth and Apollos followed him building on his work. Just as we naturally tend to compare and contrast leaders, the Corinthian Christians divided over whether they were followers of Paul or Apollos. Paul reminded them that he planted and Apollos watered but only God caused the church to grow. He saw himself and Apollos as laborers in God’s field, builders in God’s house. But he believed that God would inspect the work they did in the church.
If we see our actions as building blocks for God’s work, then what we do really matters. We build our lives and the church on the foundation of Jesus Christ. This is why we sing, “The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ, her Lord.” Only the best materials match the perfect foundation. We either build with gold, silver and costly stones or we build with wood, hay and straw. On the day of Christ’s return, all of our work will be revealed with fire. Christ will reward our good work. But worthless work will be destroyed. Either way, the Christian workman is saved.
What if we took inventory of our actions today? Will our actions today build up the body of Christ or harm it? For good or for bad, we will answer to Christ, the Lord of the church. Each of us is accountable to Christ. Every word we speak and action we take matters for eternity. How then shall we live today? Let’s give God our very best in response to his gift of the very best, Jesus, His Son. Why? Because what we do after we become followers of Jesus really matters.
