Who are you trying to please, anyway?

It was a normal day in the life of King Herod, who was known as a consummate politician. But when he gave the command to slay James, the leader of the newest Jewish sect, The Way, by the sword, he didn’t expect was such a special reaction from his former critics, the Jewish leaders. As a result, he did more to please them even more:

...and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 

Acts 12:3, ESV

What do we make of this? First, Herod was a slave to adulation from the people. He did anything that he could to earn this admiration, and killing James gave him extra points with the Jewish leaders who opposed Christ. As a result, he arrested Peter to earn more loyalty. He even did it during an important festival, the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

In contrast, Peter had a different view and result: his preaching and ministry was met with vile hatred by the leaders, and he was jailed multiple times for this, including this time. Yet he did not quit preaching Christ.

Ultimately, each man lived radically different and had different outcomes. Peter was freed, able to preach the gospel and share the story of Jesus to many people. Herod, well, he was quickly destroyed, eaten up by worms for accepting the false worship of his followers. This egotistical, power hungry false god fell short, destroyed by the God of the universe that he opposed.

Today, there are many temptations to please people and follow the crowd. It’s common to want to be well liked by people, even to be popular. This is true for anyone, no matter how old or how young the person may be. This can cause people to do things that are man centered instead of being God centered, including compromising truth. And while truth should be shared in love, truth should not be compromised, and truth cannot be changed to avoid hurting a relationship or worse, to be vainly admired by people.

Let’s remember the lesson of Herod: Our goal is to live, love, and walk in a way that pleases God, and sometimes in a fallen world that conflicts with the way of people. Yet we must be faithful, being careful to love and to speak truth. Because above all, God is the One that we please, and God is the One to glorify.

May God be honored with our lives, words, and actions!

Pastor Fran