As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
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.
Praises of Whom?
In life there are two options we have to choose between each day: To be a servant of God, or to be a servant of man. I’m not talking about loving your neighbor as yourself, caring for the sick, poor, and hopeless around us, or sharing the love of Christ with others, no, that is actually serving God by walking as He did. No, I’m talking about seeking the praises of men, becoming a slave to ‘fitting in’, and a slave to what others think of you. A slave to being ‘the man’ everyone looks up to but don’t know why. Instead of hiking the path God has prepared for you through the jungle of life, you walk on the path most traveled, the path of least resistance, the path that might bring you the empty praises of man but keeps you from being a servant of God.
You see, because when we go out each day and try to get the praises of men instead of the greatest praise, praise that’s actually worth something, that is the praise that comes from God, we’re only serving ourselves, not God. We’re serving in the World of Man, his system, his way of operating, and not in the Kingdom of God. Here’s what Jesus said:
“I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” John 5:41-44
Jesus was a man of His Word, so to speak. He didn’t accept praises from men, but that isn’t to say He doesn’t accept our praise in the sense of worship, it’s just that in His mission on Earth He was not seeking just to fit in and be along for the ride. He had a mission from God and nothing would stop Him. Is that how we live our daily lives? As if God gave us a mission to live out, but instead we get distracted by the lure of our pride and sensibility? But God did give us a mission, to preach the Gospel of Grace to all creatures, and to make disciples of all nations. However, all too often you might find yourself in a situation doing something you normally would never do, saying things you normally would never say, acting like a complete fool, and why? To save face with those around you, or worse, with yourself, because ‘bad company corrupts good character’, because you’d rather have the praises of men than God, you’d rather be a slave to opinion than a slave to Christ; THE Person who counts most.
Don’t Get Me Wrong Here…
This isn’t to say that relating to someone, being there for someone in a way that means something to them. It’s not to say that having your words be poignant and relevant to someone is a bad thing, no; in fact this should be encouraged. It’s not to say you should be aloof from the community/workspace/whatever-space around you, all self-righteous. Yeah yeah you’re shining your light from a hilltop, but you’re not letting anyone on the hill with you, O ye great Ozymandias of the Hill. That is not what any of this is saying. What I’m saying is this: if you’re more concerned with fitting in than doing what is right, then you might only be serving your ego, your own desires, and not what God desires for you.
So let’s look at how Man does things, i.e. ‘the world’, and how God and His friends do things, i.e. ‘the Kingdom of God’. In this way we can see what it means to serve ourselves and what the world demands of us, and what it means to serve God and People and what He desires for us. The question is: who are you trying to please? Who will you serve? Look these verses up, please:
The World
1 John 2:15-17, Matthew 20:25-28
The Kingdom
John 13:34-35, Matthew 22:36-40
Do you see the difference, friends? What nut would want to seek the praises of man over the praises of God?
Apparently I would. And I hope that’s very clear, because it needs to be, for everyone.
Grace and Peace,
Joe
PS: Shout-out to Joe M for telling me to switch to Firefox (*shameful plug* lame I know, whuteva), it helped a lot with my posting issues. 
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