Whom do you Desire to Please?
We all like to be liked. There is no pleasure in being disliked, that’s for sure. As Christians though, we find ourselves between a rock and hard place. We are either liked by people or we are liked by God. There is a difference.
About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword; and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the Church. The very night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison; and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Wrap your mantle around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him; he did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened to them of its own accord, and they went out and passed on through one street; and immediately the angel left him. And Peter came to himself, and said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”
Acts 12.1-11
Today is the Feast of Saint James the Brother of John the Theologian, also called Iakovos. The reading from Acts commemorates his martyrdom by Herod the King. What grabbed me today was the phrase, “When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.”
Herod was appointed as king by the Romans for the Jews which could explain why he was so eager to please them. Instead of pleasing God, Herod and many others preferred to please the crowd and angry protestors. So, after killing James, he planned to kill other Christian leaders.
We are often faced with the same dilemma. Do we work to please God or the people around us? Do we enjoy the praises of our coworkers standing in front of us, or the praises of God whom we cannot see? Anyone being honest will admit it isn’t always an easy choice.
I’m not excusing Herod, nor am I excusing our choices to please people instead of God. The point of today’s blog isn’t to bash our past choices. The point is to inspire us to make better choices in the future. The choices we make are driven by the desires that fill our heart.
Herod desired power and prestige so he chose to please the crowd of protests. Countless martyrs, including Saint James, desired to please God, and chose martyrdom from the crowd of protestors. Let me be clear, we can’t please both. We must choose God or the crowd.
Maybe you’re asking, “Sure, I want to please God, but I don’t know how?” God has told us how we can please Him. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13.34) We please God when we love.
We aren’t told to love others on their terms. We are told to love as God loves. He allowed Himself to be mocked. He allowed Himself to be lied about. He allowed people to walk away from Him when following Him was ‘too hard’ for their hearts. Do we love others like God?
God also loved others by offering them a ‘way out’ of the darkness but never forced them to follow. He loved them by forgiving them but allowed them to walk away in their anger. Ultimately God loves all of us by respecting our free will. We love ‘as God loves’ when we do the same.
In 21st Century America we may never be killed for being Christians like Saint James. It does still occur in other parts of the world. I suppose physical martyrdom will one day return to America, but until then the only thing we have to fear by pleasing God is the anger of others.
When we choose to please God, even though we are loving others, we will be persecuted by the crowds. We will be socially and likely financially pressured to ‘play by their rules’ of society. If we endure all that and please God, the worst we will suffer is a discomfort.
When we love as God loves, others will also desire to please God. It is human nature. When others see our willingness to suffer ‘merely’ because we choose to please God, it reveals something ‘real’ in our hearts. They respect our ‘real’ priorities.
The world is filled with so much false love and false loyalties, witnessing our genuine love will draw the attention of others. It was ‘enough’ to convert the entire Roman Empire. It should be enough to convert the American Empire.
