Marshall Segal, writer and managing editor of Desiring God, reveals that human approval is actually the biggest hurdle people have to face in sharing God's Word to others. If people are always concerned what other people think about them, then they will always be reluctant to share the gospel.
"Perhaps the single most significant hindrance to Christian witness in the world today is our hunger for human approval. By nature, we think more about what people think of us than about what they think of Jesus," he writes on their website. "We crave acceptance and dread rejection — which inclines us toward whatever might improve others' perception of us. And that will very rarely, if ever, lead us to call them to repent from their sin and believe the gospel."
But the apostle Paul was quite different. He didn't feel the need to be liked or respected, because all he truly cared about was sharing the message of God to others. He finds satisfaction in knowing Jesus, and he only lived to serve His master. "He abandoned the haunted hayride of human approval to walk Calvary's underground road to freedom from the fear of man," says Segal.
As a result, he drew mixed reactions wherever he went. Some people adored him, some adored him so much that they almost worshipped him. On the other hand, there were others who hated Paul.
When Paul and Barnabas went to a town called Lystra, they helped heal a man crippled from birth. Because of this miraculous act carried out in Jesus' name, the townspeople were so in awe of the two. They even called them "Zeus" and "Hermes," but Paul and Barnabas didn't care much for the adulation.
"How do Paul and Barnabas respond to these acts of worship? Do they bask in the attention? Do they relish the over-the-top affirmation and support? Do they change their handles to @Zeus and @Hermes, and retweet a few lines of the people's praise?" asks Segal.
The answer is "no," because they actually ran away from these people as fast as possible. They even explained in Acts 14:15: "Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them."
The allure of human approval is dangerous, not exciting. Segal says these two men know that the crowd's flattering idolatry will eventually kill each and every one of them.
Meanwhile, when Paul was faced with an angry crowd who wanted him dead, Paul did not give up sharing the truth about Jesus. He persevered for his Saviour.
"Paul accepted their rejection, embracing the hostility, because he did not live for what they thought of him, but for what he thought of Jesus," says Segal. "Paul did not make decisions so that more people would like him, but so that more people would love and follow his Saviour."
Segal hopes the Christians of today will take a cue from Paul and beware of both followers and enemies. Praise might be nice to hear, and criticism might be painful to accept, but people must always value what God says about them because their identity is in Christ.
"Find your identity and confidence in Him, not in what people think about you or in your status here in this life. It will free us to tell the world the beautiful and offensive message it desperately needs to hear," assures Segal.
