Performance Review

1 Corinthians 3:10 and following

Most of us are familiar with performance reviews. If we are employed, it is not unusual for our employer to tell us how we are doing every so often. If we are a performer (actor, musician, teacher, etc.) the reviews come pretty often, and from a lot of sources.

In 1 Corinthians 3:10ff, we are told that there is going to be a performance review in relationship to how we have lived our lives under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes we forget, or perhaps have not known, that it is coming. In light of that, how must we live?

I get a review every week (sometimes more often) on the job I am doing. My sweet wife is always kind, but brutally honest. And I am not so naïve as to believe that others (although I may never hear them) are, shall we say, making discernments, as well.

But what is really more important is that our Father is aware of our lives down to the smallest detail. Every action, every word, even every thought is subjected to his standard of purity, holiness, and truth. When I am tempted to take an action that I know is wrong, or speak a word that is damaging, or think about things that are the antithesis of Godliness, I need to be reminded that He will review my performance.

Wasn’t it Jesus who said (in the revised C. West version) that we are not defiling the Temple by enjoying a BLT sandwich, but by the words that cross our lips when our heart is not squeaky clean, and the actions we take when the Spirit is not in control?

Got a performance review coming? Yea! We do.