10 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.
11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. – Galatians 1:10-12
Boomerangs were never my friend. I have tried to throw a boomerang too many times to count. Want to know how many times the boomerang actually came back to me? Zilch, zero, nada. I have never successful thrown a boomerang. There is something fascinating to me about a sport that involves throwing something to yourself. Actually, this is fascinating to me because it makes no sense. I cannot play basketball, baseball, or even Frisbee with myself. I can, however, throw myself a boomerang.
Did you know our spiritual and emotional lives have boomerangs as well? Paul in this passage is actually accusing the church in Galatia of a “spiritual boomerang.” The church in Galatia had this bad habit of attributing everything they did to themselves. They were trying to please themselves. There preaching and teaching came from a place of self-centeredness. They were playing with a “spiritual boomerang.” They were living their faith with the hopes that their deeds would come back to them. Paul, though, was not fooled by this. Paul’s life was full of many successes. Most of Paul’s life did come back to Paul. Most of Paul’s accomplishments did please himself, but not after Jesus.
Saul’s life changed after his encounter with Jesus. His life changed so much that his name became Paul. This “Paul” (formerly Saul) understood that life was not lived well by throwing with yourself. Your life is lived well by throwing everything to God. This is easy for the hard stuff. It is simple, feels right to ask God for help in your time of need. But, like a boomerang, giving God the credit for good is the hard part. Galatia fell into this trap. Now Paul was attempting to awaken them to this truth.
The second half of verse 10 is the most important verse of this passage. Notice how Paul says if he were still trying to throw his deeds back to himself (in other words please others) then he would not be a servant of Christ at all. The gravity of this simple statement is far too big to ignore. As Christians, we are not here to please people. For any pastors listening, this means your new tech, cool sermons, or trendy devotionals are not meant to bring pleasure to your church. Your actions are meant to serve God.
This sounds easy, but a mature Christian will tell you this is very difficult. As Christians, we want to serve other people. Often times serving them does bring pleasure. Often times serving others brings ourselves pleasure. But when your service to God becomes a service to men it is no longer a Christian act. In 2020, virtue signaling is common place. We want other people to know how good we are. Remember in these times that your life is not about pleasing others. Remember that your life is not based on whether or not your friends loved you the most. Your life is simple serving God. This task can happen at all times of the day no matter where or who you are. God is with us. Join me in forgoing the trap of pleasing others. Let us please God together.