Navigating the Paradox of Approval and God's Glory

"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him that's what you just heard in German from our friend Alex Alex is bringing Desiring God's resources to Germany Austria and Switzerland it's an amazing reach and you'll hear what he's working on here in in just a moment but first on to this day after Christmas uh Pastor John we have a question from Hope a listener who wants to know how we should get praised rightly it's a great question here it is Pastor John hello my question focuses on my struggle with needing to feel important by those in my church body uh the Bible teaches that we should seek approval from God not from man that's Galatians 1 10." [00:10:38]

"First beware of this is Jesus beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them for then you will have no reward from your father who's in heaven Paradox on the other side Matthew 5 16. let your light so shine That Others May see your good works and give glory to your father who's in heaven shall we want to be seen or not want to be seen number two Galatians 1 10 am I now seeking the approval of man or of God or am I trying to please man if I were still trying to please man I would not be a servant of Christ." [00:02:49]

"Paul said he doesn't do it and he said he does do it now I think what he means is this when people pleasing is a way of manipulating a situation satisfy your craving for human approval you're sending a message that God is not your treasure human approval is your treasure that's the message you sent but on the other hand if you go through life or pursue your ministry thumbing your nose at other people's feelings and hopes and expectations with no concern at all about how other people may be offended by what you do or say or how many unnecessary stumbling blocks you put in the way of the Gospel then you're sending the message that it's not God's mercy and patience that has satisfied your soul making you eager to win people rather than push people away it's just on an ego trip of of exalting yourself." [00:06:27]

"if God is supremely satisfying to us then we won't crave the ego satisfaction of being seen for our good works God is our greatest reward not the praise of man and if we think rightly that some good deed should be seen by others then that will be motivated not for our praise but so that others can see that these Deeds flowed from a heart satisfied in God God will be glorified because we were So Satisfied in him that the joy of knowing him overflowed in generosity that's spelled out in second Corinthians 8 verse 2." [00:06:27]

"or what about caring about a good reputation or the danger of others speaking well of us if we are living to magnify the worth of God by being satisfied in him then we will sense the difference between wanting a good reputation for ego gratification or for getting rich versus a good reputation for the sake of showing the all-sufficiency of God in our lives we will sense the difference between cowardly avoidance of people's criticism on the one hand and courageous willingness to live and speak in a way that brings down their approach of unbelievers on the other hand and the key in both cases will be the condition of our own Hearts is God the Supreme treasure or am I just pushing him aside because of how good it feels to have a good reputation and less criticism because of my biblical Christian." [00:08:20]

"and finally what about receiving worthy praise like the woman in Proverbs 31 who fears the Lord versus living for the praise of man rather than the praise of God in Romans 2 29. and I think the key again is this when it says she fears the Lord what that means is that she fears treasuring anything in this world more than God God has become her greatest treasure her greatest joy and the only fearful thing in the presence of such a god is insulting him by treasuring anything above him so when the woman is praised for her fear of God it's God who's being praised God himself who is praised overall that's not something to be rejected." [00:09:25]

"the difference between that and Romans 2 29 is that Romans 2 29 underlines the fact that if there's something in us that is praiseworthy about God what matters most is that God see it and that God approve of it not that man see it and approve of it above all we want God to be pleased that he is supremely pleasing to us if man finds this worthy of Praise so be it that's good but it is quite secondary to God's approval." [00:10:38]

"So my answer to the question we were asked how do I put to death my need for recognition and cultivate a spirit of humble servitude is this devote the rest of your life to knowing god and all that he is for you in Christ and seek to be supremely satisfied in him amen thank you Pastor John this conversation is relevant to social media too it reminds me of an episode we did on Instagraming our good works apj 1151 you can find that in the archive apj 1151 good stuff well it takes a team to bring Desiring God resources to the world and to reach non-english speakers and that includes Alex laboring in the german-speaking world you heard his voice at the very top of this episode and we asked him for an update on his work and here's what he shared my name is Alex Randall and I am from Austria." [00:11:17]

"and we are praying um that the upcoming years would be a time where God uses us and many others to bring forward the new Reformation um to to do what God has done 500 years ago to gather a people around this word and just bring glory to himself by a growing and healthy church and we are excited about what's to come and so thankful for the opportunities we have to serve together so one of the things that amazes me is the fact that we are part of a global gospel movement and that so many people can be a part of it by doing what we do what I do or by joining the mission by supporting by giving by praying and I am so thankful for you who is joining that endeavor um so thank you for being a part of what we do in the German speaking world and so many others all over the globe a new Reformation amen thank you Alex for your faithful labors in this direction." [00:14:54]

"and with this hope if you're already a Ministry partner with Desiring God you're in this Global Gospel Movement already making possible everything that you just heard about and so thank you for your partnership and the fruit of it that we heard about today and if you're not yet a partner and you want to join in what's happening through Desiring God in the English-speaking world and how that overflows into Alex's world to reach the german-speaking world you can join us today become a monthly Ministry partner with us much of our financial support comes from friends of ours who give on average 30 dollars a month to support all this work to set up monthly giving go to give.desiringgod.org that's give dot desiringgod.org hugely appreciated on behalf of all of us at Desiring God and Pastor John thank you for your support and partnership we'll see you back here on Wednesday." [00:15:54]