There is a relatively new thing in our culture today that awards trophies to every child who participates in an activity. Stating firmly that the group is a team and that they don’t want to “cause any hard feelings” or wound any young egos, every child, whether they have done a good job or not, receives a participation trophy. I have also noticed in some schools that every child gets an award for some kind of attribute that the teacher has noticed. Many of these are tongue-in-cheek and seem to be all in good fun. But what happens when that child grows up and goes to church every Sunday, taking that as the sign that they are doing just fine in their relationship with God? Is that true? Does God award those who faithfully attend church and do good deeds in His Name a participation trophy, opening wide the gates of Heaven so that they can enter in?

Sadly, the answer is “no.” One has to actually have a relationship with God in order to enter into eternity with Him. Just showing up every Sunday and every Wednesday and never establishing an individual communication with the Father that includes confession, repentance and acceptance of responsibility will not guarantee your placement into an eternal resting place with Him. There is a cost to following Jesus; it is the total dedication of your life to Him and a daily desire to serve at His pleasure, doing His will regardless of the cost to you. Maybe you don’t get the promotion you wanted because you are adamant about your faith. Maybe you aren’t popular with the “in crowd” because you live to please Jesus only. I don’t know the cost to you, but God does. It will never be more than you can pay, but it may be more that you are willing to sacrifice.

Jesus promises a crown of life to those who are faithful. He does not say that this crown is given to those who show up every Sunday, do the most good works and say the Father’s Name the loudest. Read the Word to find out what faithfulness entails. For Jesus, it was going to the cross, doing God’s will and not His own. For Paul, it was being imprisoned and shipwrecked, beaten innumerable times and still preaching about Jesus. What does faithfulness look like for you? I am not saying that you can earn salvation. That is not possible because it is a free gift from the throne of God to each of us. What I am saying is don’t delude yourself into thinking that all is fine with you and God if you show up and warm a pew every Sunday and then live like you don’t know God exists the rest of the time. There are no participation trophies with God. He doesn’t want to “cause hard feelings” or wound egos, but God cannot and will not look on sin and His standards are firm and do not change. He has requirements that include following Him and being obedient to Him and being willing to listen to His directions, not our own desires. That’s a hard truth that you can’t get into Heaven by checking off boxes that say you’re a good person who went to church, gave a tithe, helped others when you could and didn’t commit sins that made the newspapers. God doesn’t lie and if He sent His Only Son to the cross to die for your sins, He is absolutely serious that He requires some real commitment to Him on your part, not a seat warming participant but a God-fearing, God-proclaiming active player on the field of battle against sin.

These verses are sobering reminders that God is in the business of saving souls, not rewarding participation trophies just so your feelings aren’t hurt.