Not To Please Man - December 9

Read 1 Thessalonians 2:3-4

For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Reflect

How has trying to appease people affected your life? Have you been able to please everyone?

Many wise men have said something similar throughout the years—if you try to please everyone, you won’t please anyone. “People-pleasing” is something that I have struggled with throughout my life. My intentions to make everyone happy are good. They come from the right place. I care about people. But I have discovered that trying to make everyone happy is a lost cause. And unfortunately, in order to please many people on many different matters, I’d have to disobey and displease the Lord. That, I cannot do.

In today’s verses, Paul assured the Thessalonians that he (along with Silas and Timothy) had pure motives for ministry. While many people accepted their message, many people did not. They made many friends, but they also made many enemies.

Their enemies used strategies to try to sabotage their mission that probably seem familiar. They are the same strategies we see the enemy deploy against the church today. In Acts 16-17, we see that Paul and his co-laborers had been put through the ringer of persecution. They had been beaten, imprisoned, and miraculously sprung from prison, only to get harassed by an angry mob again in the very next city! But as Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:2, they continued to boldly proclaim the Gospel in the midst of oppression because their courage came from the Lord, not themselves.

Because beating and imprisonment were not effective at stopping the spread of the Gospel, their enemies’ next tactic was to try to discredit Paul and his ministry partners. It appears that critics were seeking to discredit the accuracy of Paul’s message. Paul refuted that in today’s verse by establishing that his teaching was not based upon error. Rather, he was preaching a message that he had been entrusted with by God Himself. Coming up in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, Paul will say this about the Gospel message: “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.” Paul was not in error, he was preaching the word of God.

Paul’s opposition also tried to attack his personal integrity by suggesting that his motives were “impure.” This could mean a variety of things. They could have been accusing Paul of ulterior motives related to greed, power, fame, or even sex. But Paul maintained that their motives were pure. They sought to simply preach the Gospel as God had commanded them to do. In fact, Paul pointed out that God had “approved” of their ministry.

Finally, he was accused of trying to deceive people. There was no shortage of false teachers and religious charlatans who tricked people into their cults to gain converts. But Paul and his associates were far from false teachers. Look back at 1 Thessalonians 1:5: “You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” They sought to speak the truth of the Gospel and live the truth of the Gospel. The believers in Thessalonica knew that they had proven to be the real deal.

Paul probably could have avoided some of the persecution and personal attacks he faced if he had just changed his message—at least toned it down a little bit. Maybe he could have made it more inclusive or something, then he would have made more friends and pleased more people, right? But Paul was not trying to men. He was trying to please God. Therefore, he was unwilling to compromise on the truth and preached God’s Word exactly as he was commissioned to do so.

It’s a lesson for all of us, especially those of us who struggle with “people-pleasing.” Not only is it an exercise in futility to try to please everyone but it invariably means we have to compromise the truth of God’s Word in order to do so. And that, we simply cannot do!

Respond

Lord, I confess that it’s difficult for me to be disliked or hated by people. But “if I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). You know what is in my heart. Give me the courage and strength to obey You and proclaim Your Gospel, regardless of how many enemies I may make. Amen.

Reveal

Has your desire to please people ever kept you from revealing your faith to others? Ask God for the courage to speak, not to please man, but to please Him.