Approval of God or Men?

             In a recent Bible Study, the question was asked: “Have you discovered that pleasing one individual or group displeases another?”  I have and the result wasn’t pretty.  On a trip many years ago, I invited several friends to join me.  Then, seeing another friend, who was widowed, and needed a break with her kids, I invited her and her family as well.  Since we were in 3 separate condos and cars, I didn’t see the problem but apparently, my friends did.  The result was that I didn’t please anyone, least of all myself.

            In Galatians 1, Paul asks the question: “Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men?  If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1: 10 NIV84)

            All of us want approval.  It’s human nature to want to be accepted, to please other people, and to be liked.  There’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting those things.  The problem arises when we want those things from people rather than God. 

            As Christians, we must make decisions every day.  Decisions that may affect how our co-workers or neighbors or even our closest friends and family will view us.  Politics and religion are often taboo subjects at family dinner tables.  Why?  Because some views will cause us to lose the respect or acceptance of people who hold other views, or those subjects may even lead to disagreements and division, much as my decision regarding my widowed friend did. 

            The bottom line is that we are not in this world to please people.  As God’s children, we should be seeking to please Him.  That doesn’t mean that we should be mean to those who do not have our same values.  It doesn’t give us a license to reject them or condemn them.  God still loves them and so should we.

            My point is that if we focus on simply pleasing God, we free ourselves from so much stress and unnecessary pressure.  We no longer have to worry about whether our decisions will please one and upset the other.  We may even upset both groups, but if God is pleased, we have succeeded. I’m confident that we will also be blessed for our efforts.

            In Scripture, there are two men who were apparently torn between the approval of their peers and the approval of God.  Both were leaders in the religious community but unlike most of their colleagues, they were interested in what Jesus had to say.  One of them even met with Him in private to hear more about His ministry.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t until after Jesus was crucified that they were willing to acknowledge their acceptance of Christ. 

            Nicodemus and Joseph prepared Jesus’ body for burial and laid Him in an empty tomb.  John makes it clear that Joseph was a follower of Christ but kept it secret “because he feared the Jews” (John 19:38 NIV84).  Both men knew that if they sided with Christ, they would be condemned by the other Jewish leaders and forced out of their positions within the Sanhedrin.  They would have risked their position, prestige, and possibly their livelihood, so they chose to keep the approval of men rather than acknowledge the Son of God.  They kept their faith private to maintain the acceptance of men.

            I can’t help but wonder what blessings both men may have missed because they wanted to be accepted by people.  They could have listened at Jesus’ feet day after day.  They could have potentially been leaders of the disciples after Jesus’ resurrection.  As it stands, we have no idea what happened to them.  Did they begin to follow Jesus in earnest, or did they claim their burial efforts were just the “right thing” to do for another human being?  We’ll never know this side of heaven, but I do know, they chose the acceptance of men rather than the acceptance of God.  My question to us is:  Are we seeking the acceptance of God or men?  Each of us will have to examine our own hearts to answer that question.

Galatians 1: 10