Fear of Man
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1
One summer as a college student I had the opportunity to go to Colorado with Athletes in Action. We studied the book of Philippians and the theme was "Dioko!" (Press on!). It was a period of great spiritual growth and fellowship for me as we spent the summer learning about Philippians and sharing our faith in the places we worked. One Sunday afternoon I got to spend an afternoon in the park doing some Bible reading. Somehow I ended up in Jeremiah 17 and this chapter deeply impressed me. I had one of those supernatural moments where I felt God was telling me, "This is the truth you need if you are going to live in freedom as a Christian." I had grown up Catholic and we went to church every Sunday, but my knowledge of God and the Bible was extremely small. I had no idea how small! This is the passage I felt God wanted to mark indelibly into my heart:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives." (Jeremiah 17:5)
The Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword, and how I felt that sword that day! God opened my eyes to how much I trusted in man, how much I desired to siphon strength and life from other people, and how I used others to feel good about myself. I hadn't even seen it as a sin! It was just a way of life for me: pleasing my parents, my teachers, my friends, and relying on all those people to fill my emotional tank when I needed affirmation. I felt this rebuke from the Lord, but also an encouragement to move forward in a fresh way:
"But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
(Jeremiah 17:7-8)
Trusting in man and pleasing people can be an insidious disease because there can be no negative or harmful outward symptoms. It can actually look so wonderful: helping people, giving nice gifts, asking advice, being agreeable and flexible, giving compliments. All of these are wonderful things in themselves, but the intent behind them can be evil. I know because I have lived this.
I have been so desperate to be approved of and liked that I have sought out certain friends who would give me meaning or importance by association. I have allowed gossip to go on because I was too afraid to make the moment uncomfortable. I have agreed with people just so that they would like me and want to be my friend. I have worn myself out trying to make everyone happy, instead of making it my goal to please God. In essence, I've tried to "draw strength from mere flesh."
Why do I do this? Is there a cure for the human condition of wanting to be liked and approved of? I know the answer is yes, and it's very simple, yet it's incredibly hard to live out moment-by-moment.
It's believing what God says about us.
That's it.
It's getting rid of the scales that measure me against everyone else and either finds me up high or down low but in the end someone is never good enough. It's taking ten looks at Jesus for every one look at my sin or someone else's sin. It's believing that I will never, ever be worthy enough but God lavishes me with his wild delight anyway. I will never be complimented enough or liked enough by others to feel completely secure, but God gives me that security through his beautiful Word. In Christ, we are:
the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13)
the light of the world (Matthew 5:14)
a child of God (John 1:12)
God's friend (John 15:15)
chosen with a purpose (John 15:16)
set free from sin (Romans 6:18)
If we are trees that need the nourishment of water to live and thrive, why wouldn't we send our roots out to this life-giving stream? Can we be like Peter and say, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Only you have words of life!"
I pray for the wisdom to go to the true source of life and health and not be like a bush in the wasteland, but like a tree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in season and producing leaves that are consistently green. Let's not go to the empty well of human approval but the vibrant stream of God's truth and goodness to us to find out our true worth. Only then can we happily say, "I am accepted in Christ. I don't need everyone else's approval!"
One summer as a college student I had the opportunity to go to Colorado with Athletes in Action. We studied the book of Philippians and the theme was "Dioko!" (Press on!). It was a period of great spiritual growth and fellowship for me as we spent the summer learning about Philippians and sharing our faith in the places we worked. One Sunday afternoon I got to spend an afternoon in the park doing some Bible reading. Somehow I ended up in Jeremiah 17 and this chapter deeply impressed me. I had one of those supernatural moments where I felt God was telling me, "This is the truth you need if you are going to live in freedom as a Christian." I had grown up Catholic and we went to church every Sunday, but my knowledge of God and the Bible was extremely small. I had no idea how small! This is the passage I felt God wanted to mark indelibly into my heart:
"Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the LORD. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives." (Jeremiah 17:5)
The Word of God is sharper than any double-edged sword, and how I felt that sword that day! God opened my eyes to how much I trusted in man, how much I desired to siphon strength and life from other people, and how I used others to feel good about myself. I hadn't even seen it as a sin! It was just a way of life for me: pleasing my parents, my teachers, my friends, and relying on all those people to fill my emotional tank when I needed affirmation. I felt this rebuke from the Lord, but also an encouragement to move forward in a fresh way:
"But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”
(Jeremiah 17:7-8)
Trusting in man and pleasing people can be an insidious disease because there can be no negative or harmful outward symptoms. It can actually look so wonderful: helping people, giving nice gifts, asking advice, being agreeable and flexible, giving compliments. All of these are wonderful things in themselves, but the intent behind them can be evil. I know because I have lived this.
I have been so desperate to be approved of and liked that I have sought out certain friends who would give me meaning or importance by association. I have allowed gossip to go on because I was too afraid to make the moment uncomfortable. I have agreed with people just so that they would like me and want to be my friend. I have worn myself out trying to make everyone happy, instead of making it my goal to please God. In essence, I've tried to "draw strength from mere flesh."
Why do I do this? Is there a cure for the human condition of wanting to be liked and approved of? I know the answer is yes, and it's very simple, yet it's incredibly hard to live out moment-by-moment.
It's believing what God says about us.
That's it.
It's getting rid of the scales that measure me against everyone else and either finds me up high or down low but in the end someone is never good enough. It's taking ten looks at Jesus for every one look at my sin or someone else's sin. It's believing that I will never, ever be worthy enough but God lavishes me with his wild delight anyway. I will never be complimented enough or liked enough by others to feel completely secure, but God gives me that security through his beautiful Word. In Christ, we are:
the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13)
the light of the world (Matthew 5:14)
a child of God (John 1:12)
God's friend (John 15:15)
chosen with a purpose (John 15:16)
set free from sin (Romans 6:18)
If we are trees that need the nourishment of water to live and thrive, why wouldn't we send our roots out to this life-giving stream? Can we be like Peter and say, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Only you have words of life!"
I pray for the wisdom to go to the true source of life and health and not be like a bush in the wasteland, but like a tree planted by streams of water, bearing fruit in season and producing leaves that are consistently green. Let's not go to the empty well of human approval but the vibrant stream of God's truth and goodness to us to find out our true worth. Only then can we happily say, "I am accepted in Christ. I don't need everyone else's approval!"
Comments
Post a Comment