Man-pleasing was not what the apostle Paul was about. He had received his orders directly from God. From his commissioning in Acts 9:15-19, he was a bond-servant of the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom 1:1). He was charged with “the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of God’s grace which was given to me according to the working of His power” (Eph 3:6-7). He recognized, “To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things” (Eph 3:8-9).  So Paul’s defense of the purity of the gospel came by divine authority, and he steadfastly stayed on message, regardless of what anyone said— even if it meant standing up to the other apostles, as we will see in chapters 2 and 3!

Paul recognized that you cannot serve both God and humans. Being a man-pleaser automatically removes a person from the realm of being a God-pleaser. But, “… it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Eph 2:13). So our goal as Christians, following Paul’s example, is to be God-pleasers, which is God’s purpose in us. A wise, godly woman told me as I embarked into fulltime ministry for the Lord, “Just remember, you are not going out to serve people…You are going out to serve the Lord.” Wiser words are seldom spoken. It is so easy to fall into the pattern of serving the Lord in ways that are more intended to please people. Maybe it is the need for accolades. Maybe it is the desire to win the approval of those whom you admire, your parents, a mentor, church leaders, etc.

These words of Paul echo Jesus’ teachings, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matt 10:37). The disciples, when commanded by the high priest to cease preaching Christ, responded, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).  Joshua said it most exquisitely, “If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”  (Joshua 25:15).