So often we as Christians fall into the same trap that the world does of fearing the opinions of man more than those of God. While we know clearly that what God thinks of our actions and behavior is far more important than what man thinks, we often allow what we think our family, friends, and even strangers may think of our words and actions to override what we know pleases our heavenly Father.
I like how William Law helps us to understand the dynamics that are really going on in this battle between man and God. “To lessen your fear and regard to the opinion of the world, think how soon the world will disregard you, and have no more thought or concern about you, than about the poorest animal that died in a ditch…Is it therefore worth your while to lose the smallest degree of virtue, for the sake of pleasing so bad a master, and so false a friend, as the world is?”1
But as a Christian we must not worry so much about having our feelings hurt as much as disappointing God when we disobey His clear teachings. As an example let’s consider sharing the gospel message with an unbeliever. When God opens a door for us to share the message of Christ do we shy away from giving the gospel for fear of rejection or having our feelings hurt (the fear of man) or do we risk taking the wonderful opportunity of maybe planting a seed or even leading someone to salvation? When it comes to sharing the gospel, our feelings will often get hurt and we will experience the rejection of man, but this cannot compare with knowing that God is pleased with our faithfulness. Not only that, when we share the good news, some may come to Christ, and there is no greater joy than knowing that we played a role in bringing one soul into the kingdom of God.
My friends the world, by and large, is not interested in Jesus because they love their sin more than the Savior. We, however, are the only light that they will often ever see and we must shine bright for Christ in our words and testimony, as well as share the good news whenever we get the chance, risking getting our feelings hurt for the sake of seeing souls get saved and God glorified. So let’s get busy doing the work of the Lord knowing full well that we might not always be popular with man but praise the Lord we will be well-pleasing to the Lord!