Have you heard this adage, “Those who stand for nothing will fall for anything”? Standing for something takes courage and tenacity because you will likely face opposing opinions and criticisms while maintaining your stand. Those who desire to please God will take their stand with Him and maintain that stand knowing all the while it will cause some to hate them (John 15:18-25). On the other hand, those who desire to be pleasing to man will alter and adapt their words and actions to be better accepted/promoted within the ranks of men (2 Timothy 4:3-4); they will be bent and twisted until every last drop of the Truth is squeezed out of them and they are left a puppet in the hands of the world’s master (1 John 5:19).
“But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts.” (1 Thessalonians 2:4 NKJV)
The apostle Paul wrote a couple times about his
stand (and that of the other apostles)
to please only God and not man (see
Galatians 1:6-10 and 1 Thessalonians 2:3-12). They were entrusted with the
gospel and understood the weight and value of that responsibility; they
willingly endured hostilities and physical dangers as they took a stand with Jesus
(ex: 2 Corinthians 11:22-33). If they
had sought to please men they would have fallen for the demands of the chief
priests and other religious leaders and perpetuated the “tweaks” these men had
made to God’s commands that Jesus spoke out against in Matthew 5:21-48 (“You have heard that it was said… but I say
to you…”) and Mark 7:7-9.
“For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10 NKJV)
A bondservant, simply put, is a servant who chooses
to stay and serve (see Deuteronomy
15:12-18). James referred to himself as “a bondservant of God and of the
Lord Jesus Christ” (James 1:1).
When we choose to bind ourselves to God, to faithfully serve Him just as Jesus did
(1 Peter 2:20-23, 1 John 2:5-6), we
are taking a stand with Him, but if we allow our heads to be turned by man’s
praise and begin to desire their words of approval we have ‘left our first
love’ and fallen before new and fickle masters.
When we take a stand for God and His way we may
win souls to His glory and His service (Matthew
5:14-16, Acts 2), but we will also be hated by those whose actions are
exposed by the light (John 3:19-21, Acts
7) and speak evil of us because we “do not run with them in the same flood of
dissipation” (dissipation: self-indulgence, promiscuity, 1 Peter 4:1-4),
but we stand and endure because we are helped, comforted, and strengthened by
God all the while (Hebrews 4:16, 2
Corinthians 1:3-4, Ephesians 6:10-18). When we fall to the desires of man, pandering
to them in hopes of some praise to inflate our ego; telling them what they want
to hear (instead of what they need
to hear) and walking in their ways so they don’t feel judged or uncomfortable we
will only end up where they are – far away from God, His help, and His
blessings (consider Psalm 1:1-3)
Do you love God enough
to be His dedicated bondservant? Do you value Him and His word enough to take
on the responsibility of exemplifying Him and His way to the world around you (Romans 12:1-2, 1 John 5:3)? Are you willing to maintain your stand and
speak the Truth even when you receive man’s criticism instead of compliments? Is
your confidence in Him enabling you to stand firm with Him amid the world’s
opposition (Romans 1:16-17)?
You can do it! So can I!!
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