Galatians 1:10
“For am I now seeking the
approval of man, or of God? Or am
I trying to please man? If I were
still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
I wonder how often a pastor must ask himself that question? How often should I ask myself that
question? And the answer is very
often, because it seems to be inherent in our design or desires to want man’s
approval. There are so many
examples; the little girl that dresses up for daddy, or the little boy that
hangs from the tree, and yells at his mother to look at him. What about NFL football players who
make a touchdown and look at the camera and yell, hi mom; we want the approval
of other humans, and how does that impede being a servant of Christ?
Why would the apostle Paul entertain such thoughts? Is this something he has experienced or
is it just information to give you and I some direction? To tell the story, it must begin with
the stoning of Stephen, and I did not say Stephen got stoned on some drug, but
was dragged out of the city and the men of the city picked up stones and killed
him. When we were in Israel our
guide said that this story is told about Creation, when God got to Israel he
had a hole in his rock sack and most of them fell on Israel. These men who stoned Stephen did not
have to look very hard to find a rock, but that is digressing from the story,
it is about a young scholar named Saul who was an up and coming Jew, born in
Tarsus and educated by the great Gamaliel. He was a keeper of the law of the Jews and by his own words
was zealous for God. If he were
alive today, he would be on the fast track up the political or corporate ladder
and the media and big money would be pushing him to achieve the goal.
This young man Paul saw Christians as a threat, and one of
his goals was to destroy them and by doing so he would please the high priest and
the whole council of elders. He also believed he was serving God by attacking this
new sect and making a good name for himself. One day on his way to Damascus, with a letter from the high
priest that gave Saul the authority to bring any Christian back to Jerusalem in
bonds so that they could be punished, he had an encounter with Jesus Christ.
You know the story how he was blinded by a great light and
that light was Christ, and the Lord ask, “Saul,
Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And I answered, ‘Who are
you, Lord?’ And he said to me, “I am Jesus of
Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.” (Acts 22:7-8)
I have no doubt that we would agree if Jesus blinded us with
a great light, we would do as Saul did and confess and agree with Him. From that day on, Saul followed Jesus
and not men, and his goal was to please the Lord, and Him only. But if you are in Christ, if you by
faith have entered into Jesus, then the Holy Spirit has become the light in
your life. Also the word of God is
a light to your path and a light to your feet and we have God’s commands not to
put our trust in man, but to honor and obey God only. God has spoken to us through two of His greatest prophets on
this subject; Isaiah 2:22, “Stop trusting in man,
who has but a breath in his nostrils.
Of what account is he?” God
also spoke through Jeremiah 17:5, “Thus said the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and make flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” The psalmist states this in
Psalm 118:8, “It is better to take refuge in the
Lord than to trust in man.”
It is so easy to be a people pleaser, but if that is your
goal you will never be a God pleaser.
From the Back Porch,
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