Christians are often faced with the alternative of pleasing God or man. It is all too obvious that many times it is impossible to do both. God’s ways are not man’s ways. The paths that lead to a position of popularity with God and man do not often run parallel. It was Jesus Himself who spoke of their divergence. He pointed to a broad way and a narrow way. He made it obvious that the broad way that leads to eternal destruction is man’s way. He also said, “Woe unto you when all men speak well of you.” It was the wise man who gave us the proverb, “There is a way that seems right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
How true the statement, “A man who wishes to lead the orchestra must first turn his back upon the crowd.” So it is with spiritual leaders and Christians who wish to please God. The desire to be liked, accepted, popular, and comfortable, compromises and destroys the witness of many today. Perhaps this is the primary reason we see those who once were looked upon as sound and scriptural preachers of the Word falling away from the truth and departing from the faith. The one thing that seems to be common among them is a seeking for popularity with the world and the approval of the powers that be in the world.
Some marketing organizations exist today for the purpose of determining just what churches and pastors can do to please and attract the world around them. Whole movements are focused upon the concept of structuring and implementing ways of worship that titillate the senses of the lost. Methodology and music are adopted in order to appeal to the tastes and attitudes of the unregenerate mind.
The Christian should seek the approval of God above all else. He should determine to be popular with Him, no matter what the cost. But so many today are like those in the day of our Saviour. He described some very religious folks as men pleaser's rather than God pleasers. He said of them, “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:43)
These same difficulties sometimes face New Testament Churches today. The world’s view of a with it church has never coincided with God’s view of a church that glorifies Him. The choice today seems to be much the same as it has been in every age. Should a church seek to be in the mainstream of religious activities and be accepted by the world or strive to be in the center of God’s will?
A person who pleases God is a person God will bless. A church that pleases God is a church that is after God’s own heart. Why? Because the praise of man is at best fickle and fading. It means nothing in God’s economy. Its echoes in time will not even penetrate God’s eternity. But it will be sweet music to the ear when the sound of our Savior saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” fills His heavenly universe. The harsh sounds of some worldly church music and the words of praise and accolades spoken by men will have long since faded into trivial insignificance!
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