“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13
If you are sharing memes which are critical of your brothers and sisters in Christ…you might be seeking the approval of men.
If you are willing to believe that your fellow members in the Body of Christ are hateful, bigoted, or ignorant on some popular issue…you might be seeking the approval of men.
If you assume what evils are the motivations behind the convictions of your fellow church members, without seeing much evidence… you might be seeking the approval of men.
If you are listening to voices in the unbelieving world for advice on how to judge other believers… you might be seeking the approval of men.
If your desire for the approval of other human beings is so desperate that you are willing to condemn (yes, condemn) your fellow sharers in the forgiveness of Christ…you need to stop caring for the approval of people.
And start caring more for the approval of God.
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10
We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts…I Thessalonians 2:4b
Our fellowship, our real connection, is Jesus Christ. It is a stronger and more significant connection than any other that you will ever have. He is the one who holds us together and He will never fail.
You have just demonstrated that if that relationship in Christ were to depend on you, it would now be dissolved.
But He has brought us together by His pain, blood, and self-sacrifice. We should never dismiss or trample the priceless work He has done for the purpose of creating a fellowship in which He takes great joy.
You are going to need those fellow believers in the days to come. Do you think that your agreement with the unbelieving world will gain their approval? You too will be rejected if you belong to Christ. It may be eventual or it may be soon, but it is inevitable.
News Flash: People outside of the church by choice are going to put you in the same category as those other believers you are trying to distance yourselves from, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. You have already chosen the counter-cultural, unpopular road in deciding to be identified with Jesus Christ. There is no hope of being among the accepted anymore. He was as cool, as kind, as loving, as perfect as anyone could possibly ever be…and they killed Him for it. Resign yourself to clashing with the world where it really hurts.
Remember who you are. Remember your family. Remember Who He is. Remember who bought you, at what cost, and why.
Seek what makes Him joyful. He is joyful when we love one another. When we:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
…one another.
Messages from the Mythical 
Amen and amen Madelyn
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Ahh, great post. Well done! It is true, we have a bad habit of trying to seek the approval of men, rather than the approval of Christ. When that happens, we often try to distance ourselves from others, either because we’re hurt and resentful or because we rather pridefully want to express our disapproval, to make it clear we’re not like “those kind of people.”
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Exactly. I’ve seen a lot of this on my FB feed from church family who ought to know better.
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Reblogged this on Truth in Palmyra and commented:
Wonderful message here about the importance of love among Christian brothers and sisters. Do you love your family?
Comments disabled here so pop over to the original post if you want to share.
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Thanks so much Wally!
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Well it hit home with me so actually thank you Madelyn
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Reblogged this on Glass Planet and commented:
You should already know this…
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Thanks!
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could you clarify for me…
are you saying that if you disagree with brothers and sisters in christ, and express those disagreements, and perhaps even offer opinions and solutions for those disagreements to others, especially brothers and sisters in Christ, then you are by definition “seeking the approval of man” rather than that of God?
is this close to what I’m understanding from your post? thx in advance for the graceful reply.
-mike
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My post was specifically directed at Christians who have been posting memes and diatribes the gist of which are: “Hey fellow Christians so-called! If you disapprove of homosexual marriage, you are being hateful and bigoted! Your marriage is not affected in any way by gay marriage!” And so on.
This is not how we disagree in the Church…and I think the rest is in my post. Certainly we can and should correct one another and sharpen each other. This is not what they are doing.
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thanks for the clarification. appreciate the reply. -mike
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To be clearer, hopefully: I’m disturbed that we so easily forget who our family is. Publicly shaming your spiritual brothers is not exactly the Biblical way of correction, but is usually instead a transparent attempt to distance yourself from their (to you) embarrassing behavior, to fit in with the crowd, to assure yourself that you’re a better person than they are. These people are swallowing worldly opinions without applying discernment, then turning on their family and condemning them.
There are several errors there. We are to love one another to the extent of laying down our lives!
There are Biblical mandates to apply when actual correction is needed. We ‘re to exhort and correct one another but the goal is to be the offender’s spiritual health.
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