Articles From Our Bulletins
Medals, Metal, and Mettle
Medals are awards that typically, and somewhat ironically, are made of soft metals- perhaps even cheap metals that are then plated over with a shiny metal or coating substance. This is ironic because the mettle (courage, bravery, determination, spirit, grit, resolve, guts) that is required to achieve a medal worth having is often not made of a truly representative metal.
Our society likes to be rewarded. We like trophies and medals. What we don’t like quite so much is the hard work, self-discipline, and dedication (i.e. “mettle”) it takes to make the reward of a trophy or medal truly meaningful. Instead, we prefer to “pay our money” and get a “participation award”- which likely means that we paid more in dollars than we participated with devotion. Such “medals” (trophies/awards) are meaningless and should be made of unpolished lead.
Heaven is a spiritual place composed of spiritual things given as an eternal reward to the souls of spiritual people. As such, streets of gold and gates of pearl (see Revelation 21:18-21) are images meant to convey the splendors of this eternal reward, rather than literal representations. So, while the rewards of heaven are spiritual rather than physical, they are nonetheless real, and abiding in the presence of God for eternity is certainly the foremost among them, cf. John 14:1-3; Revelation 21:3-4!
Paul spoke of the eternal reward of heaven as “the crown of righteousness” in 2Timothy 4:8. This is the eternal crowning “medal” of heaven. There are some interesting contrasts between it and the “trophies” of this life:
- This “medal” is not a “pay your money and receive a participation trophy” kind of thing.Anyone who knows anything about the life of Paul knows this.This “medal” cannot be bought with money.“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ,” Philippians 3:7. Simply “cutting a check for weekly/annual dues” won’t attain this honor, and neither will just “making the meetings.”
- This “medal” is actually worth far more than anything and everything sacrificed to attain it.Note again Paul’s words to the brethren on this point, “But more than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,” Philippians 3:8.
- This “medal” is forged not with common “metals” of most, but with the “mettle” of the knowledge (of Jesus through His word), spiritual regeneration (through faith and rebirth by baptism), suffering in fellowship (as a Christian), and becoming dead to sin and the things of this life (as was Christ).Paul, again, highlights these “mettles” from his own life to the brethren in Philippi, “and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,” Philippians 3:9-10.
- This “medal” is a “lifetime achievement award” whose benefits exceed the lifetime- “the resurrection from the dead,” Philippians 3:11. While the reward is eternal, its criteria is very much in the here and now.
All of this brings us back to the passage where we began, 2Timothy 4:8 and the “crown of righteousness.” The context says that this “medal” is given to those with the “mettle” of self-sacrifice, spiritual combat, perseverance, and mission accomplishment. Note the previous two verses in these regards, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith,” 2Timothy 4:6-7. Will you be able to say the same at the end of your life? Will you receive the same “medal”? No, unless your “mettle” now is of the same kind as his.
- Medal_Metal_and_Mettle.pdf (74.60 kB)
