Am I remembering to help those that can’t pay me back in this life, so that I will be repaid in heaven?

12 Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.  13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

INSIGHT:  Jesus does not mean for us to never invite our friends or loved ones to a dinner or banquet that we are having.  He is again using hyperbole, as in passages like Luke 14:26 (hate your family members) or Mat 5:30 (cut off your hand), to stress the point that we need to serve those who can't pay us back now, so we will receive a greater payback in heaven.   God is always looking at our motives.  He is standing among people whose motive for giving was primarily to be seen by others (Mat 6:2) and who’s reward was truly in this life (Psa 17:4).  It is also very likely that they always gave with expectation of receiving something back from the people they gave to.  These are both evil motives for giving (to get) and show a selfishness that will earn no favor with God.  Let us be on guard here.

However, let us not go to a false extreme, and say that the Lord is saying that it is always bad or evil if we receive some type of compensation for our blessing His other children, in this life.  Even Jesus Himself received some financial compensation, from those He had helped, to support His basic needs, while He served others spiritually (Lk 8:3).

So too did the Apostle Paul, who reminded the carnal and weak faith believers of Corinth, that God commanded “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” (1 Cor 9:9) and who also wrote “If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?” Paul did not take gifts from the Corinthians because their faith was so weak and they were susceptible to evil suspicions being cast on Paul by the false apostles, which may have caused them to stumble (2 Cor 11:7-15).  So, instead he received ample gifts and supplies from others, as he served full-time for free (2 Cor 11:8-9, Phi 4:15-18).  Was Paul then guilty of being paid back in this life? No, because Jesus said, His workers were worth their wages (Mat 10:10) and their living should come from the Gospel (1 Cor 9:14).

About two years into my ministry, the Lord led me to set down my secular work and to serve Him full time, trusting Him to meet all my financial needs.  I was to serve others for free without any obligation for them to give back to me.  I was allowed to put a “Give” button on my website, but I was never to ask, or to make my needs known to anyone but God alone, through prayer and faith.  Nearly everyone I met, wanted to know how I was going to make money doing this.  Money, (a reward), not serving God, was first in their mind and many looked at me as if I was totally nuts to take this risk.  God tested me with these people and proved I was willing to serve Him irrespective of how little money I would receive.

By the Lord’s grace, I now see my ministry, with the amount of spiritual food He has given, as a banquet and I must make sure I too am following Christ’s teachings here.  If I were driven by rewards in this life, I would have targeted a totally different “Christian” audience, creating a totally different “banquet”, hiding all the scandalous or disagreeable parts of my testimony, removing the hard teachings of Christ, and turning the whole thing into an itchy ear scratching Christian motivational ministry, rather than the self-denying, cross-carrying, world-hating, faith-walking message I live and teach. By doing so, I could easily attract a more worldly and wealthy group of followers, who could have easily paid me back in this life.

When I look at the multi-million-dollar lifestyles of pastors like John MacArthur, or Joel O’Steen (apparently worth over $100 million), or at the wealth sitting in their churches, I find it difficult to think that Jesus will not say to them, “You invited only your rich friends and neighbors to the banquet, and you already received your good things in this life.” (Lk 16:25)

The way I see it, all of us, when we minister to others in the name of Christ, are giving a spiritual luncheon or dinner. But the Lord looks to see who did we invite, and what was our motive?  What is yours?