Marsha's Musings: Pleasing Men or Pleasing God?

Galatians 1:10 ¶ 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.


Whoa!  This one hits hard.  We want friends.  Churches want to be attractive to and attract the unsaved.  The rub comes when we consider this:

In our desires for friendship and being accepted by others, do we compromise the Gospel in any way?  When a coarse joke is being told among our acquaintances at work, school, among family, church or anywhere, do we laugh along with the group so we will be accepted even though it wasn't pleasing to God?  Would we rather go along with the crowd than be singled out as different?

When someone starts teaching something contrary to what the Word of God says or gives advice that is not right according to what God says we should do, do we say anything or do we just go along with it so we don't stir up trouble or embarrass someone?  I am guilty just like the next person. That is why this hits hard.

In relation to churches today, there seems to be a big move toward "seeker friendly" services.  This can mean a plethora of different things, but I have observed first hand that it generally means a move away from the teachings of the great doctrines of the Bible because "doctrine divides" and a move instead toward a more wishy washy approach designed to not be offensive in any way to visitors that might come.


Of course we don't want to offend visitors by the way we act in church and in the way that we treat our visitors!  That is common courtesy and being friendly toward church visitors.  They should be made to feel as comfortable as possible.  What I am talking about are churches who carefully avoid preaching about things like man's sinfulness and his need for One (Jesus) to take the punishment for man's sin on the cross to appease the wrath of Holy God against sinners.  Galatians 5:11 calls it the offence of the cross.

And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.

These churches are so busy trying to please men that they are no longer pleasing to God. Yet, the same goes for us as individuals and this message is ouchy to me as well because I have been caught at times in the same dilemma of wanting to be accepted and pleasing to the people I am with and therefore not speaking out against the conversation that is contrary to God's Word when I should.  In these cases, the offence of the cross has ceased on my account.  Not good.