Join us Sunday at 9:30am

Children – by Pastor Tony

  Posted on   by   No comments

Isn’t it true that we are a people who continually seek approval from mankind?  You may be reading this thinking, ‘You don’t even know who I am! How can you make such a statement!’ The reason I can make that statement is because, we (we fellow humans) are cut from the same cloth. I even find myself caught in a great irony – as I write critically of our penchant for pleasing man, I am writing with a desire to please you – trying to make this enjoyable (or at least tolerable) for you the reader! I’d even like to ask ‘how am I doing’, but that would be going too far.  Anyway, though many would wish to think otherwise, even the noble chivalry of a young man toward a stranger struggling to open a door may be (even just in the slightest part) for the approval of man.  

Don’t get me wrong, there are exceptions (see Acts 5:29) – shining moments, where one of our fellow brothers or sisters serve in perfect selfless love. But these are the exceptions.

Our tendency to please man is not our biggest issue. There is a subtler problem that we Christians face.

Consider another human relationship.  Consider the relationship you have with your earthly father.  I suspect that the nature of that relationship sparks strong opinions.  Many of joy, and others of despair.

When considering our family relationships, for what does every human being long?  We long to be loved and accepted by our father and mother. Moreover, we long for them to look approvingly upon us.  Sadly, many parents don’t understand this longing and they ignore their children and/or neglect to convey the fact that they are created in God’s image!  I see this longing for approval in my own children. They live to please me and my wife.  Even in their disobedience, it is often a twisted desire to be noticed by the one for whom they long.  

I still find myself behaving to conjure the approval of my father. This struck me during our ongoing home remodeling.  The more carpentry I can do myself, the more potential for his approval. Right? I long to hear statements like, “Well done.” Or “Great job!”  I often find myself calculating things and cutting things, thinking, ‘I think he’ll love this.’ Or, ‘I can’t wait to hear what he things about this…’  

Being gracious, he does encouragingly approve of the things I am doing.  It’s part of our evolving relationship. I have moved out of my childhood home and now work on my own house.  I am leaving and cleaving.  

The problem for us is, in our relationship with our Heavenly Father, we are called to move in the opposite direction. Instead of moving out of our childhood homes and establishing our own homes, we are called to become children of God. To die to ourselves.  We are called to do less, not more.  He wants to do the remodeling. Yet, we want God to look on approvingly for what we do.  We want to be established by our own efforts. But, Scripture teaches that we cannot please God.  We cannot gain His approval.  We cannot cause God to delight in us – not of our own accord.  The only way God can be pleased with us is when we cease to do and allow Him to do.  We will never be the carpenter that He is.  On the contrary, our best efforts are worthy of the qualification, ‘filth’ (Isaiah 64:6).    

When we seek to be approved by God (following certain rules etc.), we are really taking from God the glory only He deserves. The author of our salvation deserves all credit and the tools shall remain in His hands. The sooner we put down the hammer, the better our life will be.  In other words, as a Christian we are actually seeking to be known as our Father’s son.  His works ought to be what we glory in.

Thus, instead of growing up out of Christ’s home and cleaving unto our earthly life, we must be leaving our earthly life/fame/behavior and cleaving unto Him.  

In no work of my own do I come before Him.  In His work alone am I His child forever.  I’ll gladly go down in history as a nobody saved by grace.  

Grave will come the day for the man who seeks to establish his name before God and man.  

In Christ alone,
pastor tony minell

Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *