Thoughts on Galations 1:10

I was captured by this verse as I was reading yesterday. “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” (Galatians 1:10).  This verse made me think of the times I have heard people say things like “I can’t do what God asked me to do, I might lose my job” or “What will people think if I /go to the altar/dance during worship/fall on my face before God?”  These statements make one think that people matter more than the God who created them.  There are times that pleasing people is not the best policy.  Our first priority is to please God, not people.  If that makes us look like fools or is uncomfortable, then so be it.

In Acts 4, Peter and John found themselves in a quandary.  They had been preaching and teaching the crowds at the temple and was arrested by the Temple police and taken before the Sanhedrin.  This was the result: “So they called the apostles back in and told them never again to speak or teach about Jesus.   But Peter and John replied, "Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?”(18-19). Again in Acts 5 the apostles were teaching, and performing signs and wonders.  This made the Sanhedrin angry and jealous so they had the apostles arrested. But God intervened and sent an angel to release them from prison.  They immediately went back to teaching at the temple again.  So yet again the Temple police arrested them again but this time immediately took them before the council and they were told again to stop, but their reply was “But Peter and the apostles replied, ‘We must obey God rather than human authority’” (Acts 5:29).  Obviously the apostles were not out to make friends.  They knew what God wanted and so they did it without regard to their own personal safety.

A true follower of Jesus is more concerned with following the commands of Jesus than worrying about what others have to say or what they might think.  It takes courage to be able to overcome our natural desire to weigh everything we do against what others might think about us.  It is courage that enables us to be world changers.  It takes courage to obey without thought of self-reputation or thinking about personal safety.

There is coming a day very soon that this kind of boldness will be required to follow Jesus.  Going against the civil authorities or against societal norms will not make us popular.  We must put our own welfare and reputation in the hands of Jesus.  Jesus told His followers “"If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life.  And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?  For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with his angels and will judge all people according to their deeds” (Matthew 16:24-27).

This kind of lifestyle will make us many enemies.  It will not make us popular.  It will not create great rewards here on earth.  But I would rather obey Jesus than anyone else.  Now I am not saying to reject civil authority, for God placed them in power.  So if God instituted them over us, we ought to obey them.  What I am saying is if God asks you to do something and it is not a popular thing, such as preaching the truth, praying for the sick, repenting in front of your close friends, then forget your pride and obey.  Someday soon the law of the land may require us to reject it in order to obey God (and already is in some parts of our world) and just like the Apostles in Acts we will need to stand up to them and say as they did “We must obey God rather than human authority.” 

I want to leave you with this final thought from Joshua 1:7-9: “Be strong and very courageous. Obey all the laws Moses gave you. Do not turn away from them, and you will be successful in everything you do.  Study this Book of the Law continually. Meditate on it day and night so you may be sure to obey all that is written in it. Only then will you succeed.  I command you-- be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."