The Lord rewards faithfulness above fruitfulness

Happy Chuseok everyone. I have had off this entire week, except Monday because Korea celebrated Chuseok this week, which is probably the biggest Holiday in Korea. It’s similar to America’s Thanksgiving, and it’s a time to celebrate the Harvest and be with family. This year, I was blessed by God in being able to spend Chuseok with Jungmin and her family. Jungmin and I went with her Aunt and Uncle and two cousins to CheonJu (Jungmin’s hometown) on Monday night. We stayed their until Thursday lunchtime. It was an amazing Chuseok, most definitely the best one I’ve had in Korea. We did so many fun things. We ate a lot of great food. I can’t even begin to list all of the amazing dishes we had. Each meal we ate was a feast fit for Kings and Queens, and it was just an amazing time to celebrate God’s provision for us. We also went to a fortress in Cheongju on Tuesday afternoon where we sat on the grass, caught dragonflies, played soccer and badminton, walked along the fortress wall, and chatted. We also played basketball back at Jungmin’s family’s apartment complex. And of course, we ate lots of great food, and I was able to help out Jungmin’s father a bit with grilling meat. It was so delicious. I was able to meet many of Jungmin’s cousins, her aunt and uncle, and her grandmother. They were all so kind to me and I really love spending time with her family. On Wednesday morning her relatives left back for Seoul, but Jungmin and I stayed with their with her mother, father, and sister, and her lovely dog “Happy”^_^. Her sister, Jungmin and I went to downtown CheongJu to watch the movie “Superbad.” Now this is not the dirty comedy from a few years ago, this is an animated 3D children’s movie. It was AMAZING!! I really recommend everyone of all ages to go see this film. I had a smile on my face the entire time! We also later that night went to a Karaoke room, and sang for over an hour. It was so much fun. Jungmin and I also played boggle together, and it was awesome! I had a great time with her whole family, and I thank God so much for allowing me to be part of Jungmin’s family’s celebration. I’m so blessed by them every time I see them, and I love being with them!

Jungmin and I have been reading John Piper’s devotional book “A Godward Life” together. We’re about halfway through right now. Jungmin just left for Malaysia today with her family. Please pray for them, that they have a safe and wonderful trip together. They will arrive back in Korea on Tuesday. I can’t wait to see her again, and I can’t wait to see all of the pictures from their trip.

Before she left today, we read a devotional from John Piper’s book. This devotional was entitled “Lord-Focused Living at Work.” He based the devotional around Ephesians 6:7-8 which says, “With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.” This notion of working as working unto the Lord has been a very familiar idea in my life. It’s what keeps me motivated in the tasks I am assigned. I try my best to muster up joy each day in the fact that I going to work today to serve the King of the Universe. That yes, I have my human bosses, but ultimately, I’m working for a heavenly boss. And that makes me excited to go to work every day (granted, some days I’m more excited than others). So this idea is not new, but there was one phrase that seared itself into my mind, and it’s been stewing there all day. Piper might be quoting Billy Graham here, it’s hard to distinguish in how he wrote the sentence, but the sentence wrote, “The Lord rewards faithfulness above fruitfulness.” Piper was talking about how Billy Graham was talking with his staff and telling them that he thinks that many of them will be ahead of him in line in heaven for the Lord’s rewards, and he gave that sentence as his reasoning. And this idea just brings so many emotions to the surface for me.

I’ve heard many stories, and I know of many people who faithfully serve God week after week, year after year, decade after decade, and statistically, their labor does not produce the kind of fruit that I’m sure they hope and pray for. And fittingly, often, I see the discouragement that comes with those situations. And yet, these people continue to press on, they don’t give up. They are not fueled by the comfort and gratification of immediate or exponential results, instead, they are fueled by a faithfulness to God that grows stronger and stronger as they serve and love God more, despite results. And I have to think that all of these men and women who toil endlessly for the Kingdom must have an amazing view of heavenly rewards as they work. This gives me hope as I seek to live my life in service to the King. That ultimately, results are not up to me. That is God’s area of expertise. Billy Graham did have the effect he had based on his own merits ultimately. Now granted, his faithfulness was rewarded in fruitfulness. But, his faithfulness was no more intense and focused than someone else who was just as faithful if not more, and yet saw only 1% of the fruit that Billy Graham saw. Ultimately, all we can do in service to God is offer up sacrifices to him, and it is by God’s grace that those sacrifices will spring forth and blossom into amazing results. God is the one to be praised for Billy Graham’s ministry, not Billy Graham. And thus, fruit can not be the criteria by which God rewards people, since God is the one responsible for the fruit. Now granted, as many passages like Ephesians 2 and others mention, even our faithfulness is ultimately granted to us as a gift of grace by God. But nevertheless, the Bible gives clear commands to faithfully serve him, and also gives clear rewards to those who serve him faithfully. But the Bible does not say that he only rewards people who have a certain number of converts, or a certain sized church. God looks not at the outward appearance, but at the heart. He isn’t like a manager who gives a bonus to the person who made the most sales that year. Instead, he’s a manage who gives a bonus to the person he could tell worked most faithfully at his job, despite his sales.

One side note to mention as well is that when I talk about fruit, I am specifically focusing on the obvious. I’m thinking about a kind of kingdom fruit that is recognized right away. People who’s churches flourish quarterly by the thousands have immediate fruit that anyone can recognize. So when I talk about people who faithfully serve, and yet see little fruit, that does not mean that there is no fruit. I believe anyone who serves faithfully, God will use! God does millions of things in every single little tiny event that we have no idea about. The effect of one good deed that we do could change the course of history 100 years in the future, and we’ll never know anything about it. I don’t think people’s faithfulness is ever wasted. I think God uses it all, but for some, much of it is never seen in this life. Two examples of this could be the pastor who preached the message that saved Charles Spurgeon. This pastor is still unnamed to this day. No one knows who that pastor was. That pastor probably didn’t know the effect he had. And yet, God used that pastor’s faithfulness to jump-start the service of the “prince of preachers.” Another example would be a man from Australia. I can’t remember his name, but to make a long story short, this man for almost 40 years, made a covenant with God to share the gospel with at least 10 people every day. Often it was just a simple question on the street like, “Do you know where you would go if you died today?” Not once in this man’s 40 years of faithful ministry did he ever see 1 convert!! Not one!! And yet, he remained faithful. Well, a pastor from Europe started traveling around the world and would meet many different people. As he met them he would ask them how they got saved. And on multiple occasions, people would mention a man from Sidney who approached them on the street with a simple question that got them thinking. Eventually the pastor sought out this man and found him. He was very old at this point. And the pastor told this man of the effect of his ministry, how probably 1000s of people had come to Christ as a result of this man, and the man just cried because he had never known any of that fruit, and yet he stayed faithful. So I do think that all faithfulness yields some sort of fruit, whether we realize this now or not.

But that’s not the main point. The main point I’m trying to make is that God rewards faithfulness above fruitfulness. This must be a strong conviction for anyone who wants to persevere in Kingdom work. And I pray that God will make faithfulness a strong characteristic in my life that will bring me through to the end so that God will say to me, “Well done, my good and FAITHFUL servant.” Notice, the Bible doesn’t say, my good and fruitful servant, no...it says my good and FAITHFUL servant. That is God’s requirement for his servants. Not that they are fruitful, but that they are faithful.

I think of many people when I think of this principle. First, I always think of the story of Don Carson. His father was a pastor in French Canada for pretty much most of his professional life I believe. And his father pastored a very small church his whole life. I don’t remember the number, but I want to say that it was in the 30s. But his father never stopped pastoring because he strongly believed that there were people in that area that God wanted to save through his ministry, and so he stayed strong, and committed himself to that small church. Now as many of you know, Don Carson, this man’s son, is now considered the top New Testament scholar in the world. And yet, Don Carson has not forgotten his father’s faithfulness, and thus even though Don Carson could easily fill up his schedule with only the top primary, big time speaking engagements, he has vowed to never ever deny a speaking request based on the size of the venue. That is powerful! And that makes it clear to me, that Don Carson, through the testamony of his father’s faithfulness, understands the principle that God values faithfulness more than fruitfulness.

Two men in my own life that I am reminded of are my father and my pastor from the USA. Both of them have exemplified faithfulness in their work to me that has shaped me in powerful ways. They both are faithful and loving husbands, fathers, neighbors, community workers, and are active in serving God and his church. My pastor has been the Pastor of Maple Glen Bible Fellowship for I believe over 20 years, but I’m not sure of the exact number, and my father has served as a faithful deacon and now treasurer for many years as well. The church has never been very big, and there have been many struggles along the way. Men of lesser faithfulness, and weaker backbone I believe would have given up already, but both of these men have remained faithful to God callings on their lives in their service to Him. And I know that in the grand scheme of all the churches in the world, my church from back home seems barely a blip on the radar, and I know that it has not been easy for the members of our church when things seem difficult, but I know that God has a HUGE reward awaiting them, and I really am so encouraged by their faithfulness. And I know just from personal experience, that God has blessed their faithfulness with much fruit. I think of the pro-life marches, the car washes, the volleyball summers, the baptisms, the missionaries supported, the missionaries sent out, the homeless helped, the children taught, the families cared for, the suffering who come to our church, recieve grace upon grace, and then go on their way, the illuminating sermons which have instilled in the flock at Maple Glen a robust theology that magnifies Christ, the hymns and praise songs that have been offered up to God, the lives changed, the hearts awakened, the dead being made alive, the marriages counseled, the singles counseled, the young counseled, the old counseled, the weddings performed, the funerals done, the foreigners welcomed, the weak cared for, the meals given to the poor, the youth groups provided, the Sunday School classes which enrich our souls, the friendships, the community events, and everything else that has been accomplished at Maple Glen Bible Fellowship, and I rejoice and praise God for his faithfulness to us, his fruit that was given to us through his grace, and his faithful servant who have served so faithfully through the years.

If I have my life marked by one thing, I would much rather it be marked by faithfulness, than immediate, famous fruitfulness.