Paul, an apostle -- not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead ... (Gal 1:1)In other words, "I am God's messenger and I was chosen by God to be that messenger, not some mere mortal."
And what is that tough message? There is no other gospel. "If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed." (Gal 1:6-9) No other gospel. Not works. Not universalism. Not "love and flowers". Not any other gospel than a faith in Christ that produces a changed life.
He goes on to say, "You think this is easy?" Okay, not quite. What he actually says is,
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. (Gal 1:10)It is that last statement that really struck me. It struck me because isn't that where we live? Do we not aim to please others?
It is in our nature to seek to please others. Oh, sure, that's generally self-centered. That is, practical altruism is predicated on the idea that "the best thing I can do for myself is to help others." That way they'll like me and want to be nice to me and ... all those good things. Genuine altruism -- looking out for the welfare of others without regard for my own benefit -- is practically nonexistent. Even if it's "Doing good for others just makes me feel better about myself," it's still about self in the end. Still, the best of us still seek to please others. It's only the sociopath that has no interest in pleasing others. Paul says, "If it is my aim to please others, I am not qualified to be a servant of Christ."
Why is that? Well, it should be readily apparent. If I am to be a servant of ____ -- whatever that may be -- my primary concern would be to please ____ -- whatever that may be. Obviously. If I am a servant of self, I would seek to please self. If I am to be a servant of men, I would with so please men. If I am to be a servant of Christ, I would wish to please Christ. Not hard to figure out. If it is not the the goal of a servant of Christ to please Christ, then that is not a qualified servant of Christ.
And, yet, this is often typical among Christians. Christians, mind you; people with the name of Christ attached to them. We are so concerned about pleasing those around us that we are willing to jettison the things that please our Lord and Savior. It is true on a personal level. It is true on a corporate level. Churches have largely shifted their structures -- their appearance and their processes, their programs and even their message -- to please people. When they go to big screen projection and updated lighting and music and more contemporary programs like "book studies" rather than Bible studies, it is not generally with the primary aim to please Christ. He is not the main goal. They figure that the goal is to please people, ostensibly so they will come in and hear the message. It is not generally with the primary question, "What would please Christ?" And when we do those things, we disqualify ourselves as servants of Christ.
We need to be careful. The songs we sing, the messages we bring, and the lives that we live need to be aimed first at pleasing our Master. Anything else disqualifies us. That's definitely a bad thing (1 Cor 9:27; 2 Tim 3:8).
4 comments:
Seems like the tendency to redefine things that the Bible tells us are sin, so that they are not sin, is simply an attempt to please others. Yet, it’s also about making people feel good about themselves, because they’re so inclusive.
Please others. Please self. Please anyone but God, to be sure.
In “pleasing” others they really seek to please themselves. The end result is almost always a surrender of any pretense of adherence to a Biblical Christianity.
Practical altruism. They please others because it most pleases them. What pleases Christ is of little real consequence.
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