by A.W. Tozer
The desire for social approbation is one of the less odious self-sins. It has about it nothing of the offensive quality of, say, self-love or self-righteousness. Under certain circumstances it might even be a virtue, for if the world were populated with men and women of pure hearts and holy lives it would be right and natural to want to live in such a manner as to earn their approval.
Undoubtedly those holy beings that inhabit the world above take pleasure in the love and respect of their fellow creatures, but there is and can be no moral parallel between heaven and earth. We dwell in a world halfway between heaven and hell. In hell there is only evil; in heaven there is only good; on earth the tares and wheat grow together, with the tares vastly outnumbering the wheat. There was at least one period in the history of the world when the righteous could be numbered on the fingers of both hands, not counting the thumbs, and the language of Christ gives strong reason to believe that the proportion of good and evil will not be much different at the end of the age (Matthew 24:37-39; Luke 17:26-30).
So corrupt is human nature, so ungodly and rebellious the race of mankind, that the true friend of God is not likely to be accepted by the world, though it sometimes happens that he will be praised for doing something of benefit to society, such, for instance, as the opening up of the interior of Africa by David Livingstone. But the more Christlike men become the surer they are to feel the force of our Lord's words: "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you" (John 15:19); and the words of Paul: "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Timothy 3:12).
To be a true Christian requires that we agree to forfeit the approval of the world. Yet so human are we that this desire to please our fellow men remains with us long after other sins have departed. Mostly we compromise the matter by narrowing the circle of persons whose approval we seek. We write off the sinful worldling as impossible to please and give ourselves no concern about whether or not he approves us. Along with him go the liberal, the modernist, the cultist and a host of others like him. Then we begin to congratulate ourselves that we "fear the face of no man," that we are fearless cross-carrying saints who care nothing for the blame or the praise of men.
Maybe so, but where is the Christian who is actually dead to public opinion? For the most part we are merely dead to the opinion of certain sections of the public, and have preserved to ourselves other smaller groups whose opinion we value very much indeed. I have noticed how this tendency runs throughout all human society. The "highbrow" scorns the favor of the vast majority of mankind, but eagerly courts the favor of his little circle of fellow highbrows and is broken-hearted if they frown upon him. The "society" woman appears to care nothing for the opinion of the millions who read about her shady escapades, but would be driven to suicide if she were excluded from the narrow but select group whose esteem she has come to depend upon as her very life and breath.
Among Christians things are not much different. A preacher earns the reputation of being "fearless" by attacking liberals, Catholics, liquor and immorality, but fawns at the feet of his own little group. He may boldly insult the Pope, but would never dare to cross the monied deacon in his congregation nor express a theological opinion which he knew to be contrary to the mass opinion of the religious group with whom he associates. He is perfectly willing to make enemies of everyone who does not share the opinions of his denomination, but he is careful not to offend anyone in the denomination who is in a position to make him suffer for it.
I cannot believe in the spirituality of any Christian man who keeps an eye open for the approval of others, whoever they may be. The man after God's own heart must be dead to the opinion of his friends as well as his enemies. He must be as willing to cross important persons as obscure ones. He must be ready to rebuke his superior as quickly as those who may be beneath him on the ecclesiastical ladder. To reprove one man in order to gain the favor of another is no evidence of moral courage. It is done in the world all the time.
We'll never be where we should be in our spiritual lives until we are so devoted to Christ that we ask no other approbation than His smile. When we are wholly lost in Him the frantic effort to please men will come to an end. The circle of persons we struggle to please will be narrowed to One. Then we will know true freedom, but not a moment before.
( Article taken from The Price of Neglect, Chapter 38 )
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