Pleasing Men

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

PLEASING MEN

Acts 25:6-12

6 After spending eight or ten days with them, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. 7 When Paul appeared, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove. 8 Then Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar." 9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?" 10 Paul answered: "I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!" 12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!"

NIV

Why is it that the Roman governors, both Felix and now Festus, always seem to want to please the Jews or do them a favor? It would behoove the Roman procurator to keep the peace and not have some insurrection to deal with. Although he has the authority to put down any riot or disturbance in Israel, as the official representative of Rome, who is the occupying force, with full legends of soldiers. Yet, Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor. Why do non-believers always seem to want to please men? We know that we are not to please men, but please God. How can anyone please both God and men? There are many scriptures that speak directly about speaking not to please men, but to please God. Paul used this theme several times in his letters.

Gal 1:10

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

NIV

Yet, we have witnessed many believers who profess to be a servant of Christ, live as though they are trying to please men. Perhaps not in big and splashing ways, but more in the sly or inconspicuous way. Although we have served in several churches, we have seen, what appears, people wanting to please the pastor, show him their good deeds, wanting his approval so to speak, even lining up to shake his hand, to make sure he knew they were in church, or praise him for his sermon. That does seem to be the polite thing to do, it is the normal thing to do, and we are not judging the attitudes or behaviors of others. It just appears a little strange, that’s all. Then we wonder how much effort in our normal daily lives we put into pleasing men. Again, it would seem right, as we are instructed to work as onto the Lord, that in our jobs, we want to please our employer by doing a good job and being efficient in whatever assignment we have. However, in reality, in doing so, we are pleasing God. Certainly, we would want to please our spouse, that is a given. However, the main Paul makes in his letters is that by being a servant of the Lord, we cannot stay silent about the things of God, about Jesus Christ, in order to please people. The evil one wants nothing more than to silence our voice, bring our reputation into question, and destroy our witness among his flock of non-believers. If we humble ourselves before the Lord, he will exalt us, but if we humble ourselves before men, we will be smashed. Of course, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, or as Paul said to the church in Philippi, that we should be humble and consider others more important than ourselves, which does away with pride and boasting, but that was within the church, not in the world. Still, we can love our neighbor, which includes non-believers, without living to please them. It is sort of a conundrum as to living humbly among men, without pleasing them and only living to please God. Festus certainly wanted to do the Jews a favor, pleasing them rather than the truth. We know God as Truth, and so we must live to please Truth over men. If they do not believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then even by default they serve or are the children of the devil, who is the father of all lies. We have decided to serve God, serve the Truth, living to please God not men.