Pleasing God And Not Men...

Alright, I am going to be transparent today. I got slapped in the face this morning by a little phrase of a little verse in the Bible from 1 Thessalonians 2:4 “Our purpose is to please God, not people.” As a pastor one of the hurdles that each day (wrongly and sinfully) I face is seeking to try and please people. If you have never been a pastor you don’t really know it feels to 250 people who all know how to do your job and spend your time better than you and many of them have no problem telling you this often. So, my desire to please takes shape in visits to the sick I make, visits to seniors in the church, did I go to enough ball games for this child or that child, did I get to speak to so and so Sunday morning, was my sermon good..

I try so hard to please people, because if a person is not pleased with their Pastor they gripe “He only saw me once” or “He did not speak to me.” They tend to tell their friends all about what I did not do for them; I just wish they told people the good their pastors did do for them. So, in my head you get to believing that keeping people happy is what grows the church, but this wrong dead wrong. I now it, thankfully I have not had to compromise my integrity or God’s Word over it, but I don’t want to live like this. But, anyway, I thought when I read this verse “Our purpose is to please God, not people” that is the way life and pastoral ministry should be done. Not, worrying over what someone will say or think about something I do, but getting excited and being liberated to serve God, strive to please Him, and let people say what they will.

I want to be free to do this; I am going to work on this. It will take courage and faith in God, because I know that pleasing God first may mean that some people may not be as pleased with me. I am encouraged by the Apostle Paul who said in Galatians 1:10 “Obviously, I'm not trying to be a people pleaser! No, I am trying to please God. If I were still trying to please people, I would not be Christ's servant.” I also think that if I make striving to honor God my first priority, then people who also have God as their first priority will be pleased as well. So, then those who may be bothered, maybe they need to see who they are trying to please most: themselves or God. I want to live out the old song that George Beverly Shea would sing

I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause,
I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame,
I'd rather be true to His holy name
Than to be the king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin's dread sway;
I'd rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

So, pray for me that I will be liberated from the shackles of trying to please man and be free and happy to my God and Savior! Pastor Phillip