Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.
10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Paul makes a strong statement about his motives and priorities at the end of this opening section of his letter to the Galatians. He writes, “Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man?” He is committed to seeking the approval of God — as opposed to gaining the kudos and congratulations of men at the expense of honoring God’s laws, values, and the gospel message.
On the one hand this is a nonsense statement. He has the approval of God through faith in Jesus. Jesus is his righteousness. For Jesus’ sake, Paul has been declared righteous. This has nothing to do with anything he has done or refused to do (to the good). In other words, God’s approval of Paul was not related to his zeal for God’s mission. Nor was it related to his refusal to give in to the circumcision party. It wasn’t withdrawn because he had persecuted Christians. Nor was it taken from him because he approved the stoning of Stephen.
Man’s approval, on the other hand, is all about outward actions. You are approved by men when you do the things they want. You are approved by man when you hate the right persons, don’t cause waves, or when you tout the politically-correct ideas. That’s how man’s approval works. It’s all about works. There may be a smidgen of grace sprinkled in here and there. But if you don’t bring the goods, you don’t get the prize. Or the sale. Or the applause. Or the audience.
We walk such a fine line these days in the North American Church. On the one hand we must be sold out to God. Totally committed to following his word and keeping his commandments – and urging our people to do the same. On the other hand we don’t have to wear a chip on our shoulders because we’re Christians.
I’m listening to a fascinating podcast about the rise and fall of Mars Hill, and the ministry of Mark Driscoll. Mark had a way of combative in-your-face preaching and teaching that made him notorious. It became dictatorial, to the point that some considered him misogynistic and emotionally and spiritually abusive. He seemed to be proud that he had offended so many people.
But the same Paul who spoke of his refusal to seek the approval of man also said that a pastor should be well thought of by those outside the church (cf. 1 Timothy 3:7). We must remain faithful to the truth of God’s word without fear of what man might think of it. We must at the same time do all we can to give a winsome witness to the grace of God in Jesus.
This is no easy task. But the Savior we serve and whose message we share took on an even greater task to redeem us – fully pleasing God and securing our salvation.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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