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Radical Christian Living  /  Gaining Victory Over Bitterness  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 4
He says there is “no reward in heaven” for being kind to people who are kind to you, and ties Christian distinctiveness to loving enemies; where have you seen modern Christianity unintentionally train people to settle for “friend-kindness,” and what would change in your daily relationships if you took Jesus’ reward-language seriously?
Another way to ask: He says there’s no reward for being kind only to people who are kind to you, and that Christians should love enemies. Where have you seen churches train people to stop at “friend-kindness,” and what would change in your relationships if you took Jesus’ talk about reward seriously?

Direct Answer Bercot’s teaching suggests modern Christianity often normalizes being nice within safe circles, but Jesus measures kingdom living by love toward enemies and wrongdoers. If we took Jesus’ “reward in heaven” language seriously, we would actively seek chances to repay evil with kindness, bless critics, and guard our speech about those who wrong us.

Support from Transcript:

  • He says, “by returning kindness to people who are kind to us… there’s no reward in heaven for that,” because “even the worst people are usually kind to their friends.”
  • He identifies distinctiveness: “loving those who do us wrong… doing good to those who wrong us.”
  • He describes deliberately changing his speech about Jehovah’s Witnesses: “I go out of my way to not speak evil of them unfairly… and to always try to speak as well of them as I possibly can.”
  • He frames persecutors as giving “an opportunity to repay that evil with goodness and kindness,” leading to “a great reward in heaven.”
  • He quotes Matthew 5: loving enemies, blessing cursers, praying for persecutors, as essential to being “sons of your Father in heaven.”
Discussion Follow-ups What would it look like to “go out of your way” to speak well of someone who attacked you? How might reward-language reshape how you respond to online criticism, church conflict, or family tension?

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