Short-term Rewards vs. Living for the Audience of One

In the absence of a strong theology of Heaven and eternal rewards, the western church has been permeated by "prosperity theology," the gospel of health and wealth. We've been seduced to look only to short-term rewards of material gain, physical health and safety, and human approval.

The problem with short-term rewards is not that it's wrong to receive them, but that it's wrong for them to be our primary motivation for doing the work. If we take Matthew 6 seriously, when we offer people their name on a brick for giving to a building offering we're saying "Hope you enjoy this brick, because if this is why you're giving, the brick's all the reward you're going to get." What we're offering people is temptation—another wrong motive for doing something that God wants us to do for other reasons, for the applause of God, not the applause of men. (Winning a Gold Medallion may be a fine byproduct of serving God, but it is a terrible goal.)