To please God, or Man…that is the question!

Scripture:

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.

Observation:

Paul would make no pretension at being religiously tolerant, if being tolerant means that it doesn't really matter what persons believe so long as they believe. How naive and glib we often are: "What persons believe is their business-a private matter. We don't need to be too concerned about theology or doctrine. Being brotherly is what matters, living by the Golden Rule, doing good, refraining from harmful activity-that's what counts. And if you are sincere, you'll be led to the right truth and in the right path."

"Hogwash!" Paul would say. "What you believe eventually determines how you live. You can't encrust the gospel of grace with a system of law. To do so diminishes the sovereignty of God and puts salvation back in the hands of humans to be earned by merit." Whatever the case, Paul warned against a gospel that was not centered in one gift-the grace of Christ-and in one event-the Christ event in which Crucifixion and Resurrection could not be separated. He could have pleased the Jews by preaching law observance, and the pagans by making the death of Christ a mere sacrificial transaction that placed no obligation upon the follower. But from the moment he became a Christian Paul knew nothing else but Jesus crucified. This freed him from the law, but it called him to be crucified with Christ. The only way to prove he was pleasing to God rather than men was to keep the scandal of the Cross at the heart of his preaching and take the consequences of the Cross to the heart of his living.

Application:

Do you spend your life trying to please everybody? Paul had to speak harshly to the Christians in Galatia because they were in serious danger. He did not apologize for his straightforward words, knowing that he could not serve Christ faithfully if he allowed the Galatian Christians to remain on the wrong track. Whose approval are you seeking-others' or God's? Pray for the courage to seek God's approval above anyone else's.

Prayer:

"Lord, please forgive me for the times that I have been more concerned at pleasing MAN than in pleasing YOU. There is a natural tendency and temptation in the world we live in to not "rock the boat" or to just keep our thoughts and opinions quiet. It does matter what I believe, it does matter what doctrine I believe. Help me to strive today to please you...and be salt and light to the world around me by living LIKE YOU, and not LIKE THEM...them being the ones that are not YET living for you. In Jesus' name, amen!"