Approval of Man, or of God?

“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.

“For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:10-12 ESV)

Questions:

• Are you seeking the approval of humans over God’s approval?

• Are you trying to please other humans over pleasing God?

• Or are you a true servant of the Lord, doing what he says?

• And are you being guided by the Scriptures as led by the Spirit?

The apostle Paul set the example for us here in what it looks like to believe in Jesus Christ, to be one of his followers (disciples), to follow him in obedience to his commands, to adhere to his teachings, to be led by the Spirit, and to serve the Lord Jesus in ministry in the areas to which we are called of God, equipped of God, and empowered by God.

So this is not about us getting the approval of other humans so that they will like us and not reject us, and so that they will include us and not cast us off as though we are trash. And this is not about following all the latest marketing techniques in how to “grow your audience” or to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” into your gatherings. This is purely about us being led by the Holy Spirit and called and equipped of God to do the work of the ministry to which God has called us all individually.

And so our giftedness is not of the flesh, and not of other human beings, but it should be divine giftedness of the Spirit of God which can only be operated in the power and under the direction of the Holy Spirit and not according to our own thinking and reasoning, and not according to any kind of human-based training we might receive in what kinds of things we should be doing and saying in order to draw to ourselves a large audience. This is not about meeting the approval of humans, but it is about having God’s approval.

One of the big things today is that everything has to be short, and the shorter the better. Now I am definitely not saying that short is bad and that only long is good and of God, but one of the dangers of making these messages too short is that it cuts short the messages God is teaching me and that he wants me to share with the people. And so if I follow that way of thinking, I might be listening to humans over God, and be more concerned about getting the approval of humans rather than the approval of God. But if shorter reaches more people without sacrificing the message, then good.

But the main thing that we should always keep in mind here, if we are attempting to follow the leading of the Spirit in doing the ministry to which God has called us individually, is that we truly are listening to the Spirit’s voice and to what the Scriptures are teaching us (in context), and that we are not being swayed in opinion or in content by the opinions of other humans who are thinking “marketing” instead of “Holy Spirit.” For the truth needs to get to the people, for too many people are teaching them the lies.

And the truth is that Jesus Christ died on that cross so that we might die with him to sin and now walk in his holiness and righteousness in obedience to his commands. And the truth is that if we reject that message, and so we make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, convinced that heaven is our eternal destiny, but then we continue living in deliberate and habitual sin, we will not have salvation from sin, and we will not have eternal life with God.

[Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 9:28; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Luke 9:23-26; Matt 7:21-23]  

Should I Not Preach Jesus 

An Original Work / July 4, 2013

Based off 1 Corinthians 9:16-10:13

Woe to me should I not preach Jesus.

I’m compelled to preach the full gospel.

I make myself a slave to ev’ryone

To win their hearts to Christ.

All this I do for my Lord Jesus,

And for the sake of His Name;

Do it for the sake of His gospel,

So that I, its blessings gain.

Scripture notates the sins of others;

Written down for us as examples

To keep us from setting our hearts 

On evil as did those of old.

Do not worship other gods of man;

Do not give your hearts to them;

Not partake in immorality.

Do not test your Lord and King.

So, be careful if you think you are

Standing firm in your faith in Jesus.

God has given his word to warn us, 

So through faith we will not fall.

No temptation has o’ertaken you

Except what is commonplace.

God is faithful to not let you be

Tempted past what you can bear.

He gives the way of escape. 

https://vimeo.com/116057811