To Please God or to Please Man

To please God or to please man? That is the question. It's not exactly Shakespeare, but it is a question we must all answer as we face different decisions and challenges each and every day. It amazes me how many people are more concerned about what other people think of them than what God thinks of them. It also amazes me how often people quote Galatians 1:10 in an effort to justify carnal decisions they have already made.

When the Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Galatians, he was not giving people the authority to make whatever decision they chose and then justify it with scripture. Paul wrote, "Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." Paul was trying to teach the Galatians that all we do and decide should be with the full knowledge that God is with us always. When we say yes to Jesus, we hand over the title to our lives and desires to Him. That it is Him and His approval we should be striving for.

It makes me think of people with perfectly manicured lawns. I'm personally not a yard guy. As a matter of fact, I really don't like yard work at all, and perform the normal yard maintenance begrudgingly. However I see people that spend hours in their yard working on their lawn every week. They make sure they do not have the slightest hint of a weed or brown spot. Most often this is all done because they want to be admired for their lawn. They want to have the best looking lawn on the block and they take pride in something they did when people admire it.

It also makes me think about the people who make sure they wear their "Sunday best" to church on Sunday morning. They say they are making sure they are wearing their best for the Lord and I think that is a part of it. However, more often than not they are looking at what everyone else is wearing and comparing. They are judging using human standards.

In both of these cases, it is people looking for the approval of people. Sometimes it's not a conscious desire, but the desire is there nonetheless. The neighbor who looks down on my not so green lawn because I don't water it in the heat of summer. The fellow church goer who is astonished that someone might actually where jeans and a t-shirt to church.

Are we here to win the favor of men or of God? Yes, the Lord does look on us with grace and mercy. There is nothing we can do to earn it. However, it does not relieve us from trying to make the best decisions and be who God has created us to be. I for one am more interested in whether the Lord looks at me and says, "Well done good and faithful servant" than "Wow! Nice lawn!" I desire to hear the Lord say, "Brian, thank you for listening to my Spirit and making the unpopular choice, knowing it was from Me" rather than "Good job staying with the status quo, but there are hundreds of people you came in contact with this week that the religious folks won't connect with and you had the opportunity and their ear and didn't take advantage of it."

So my friends, what is it going to be? Are you here to win the favor of men or please God?