For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.

                                                                                                                   Galatians 1:10 

Sandwiched between a forceful denouncement of those who would distort the gospel and a brief autobiography of his former life as a Pharisee, you find another tremendous statement from Paul. He demonstrates the reality that following Jesus will not bring accolades from others rather the Christian life should be a singular focus on pleasing God. Although the world will bring persecution against Christians, I believe that Paul is referring to his refusal to please religious men such as those from whom he formerly belonged. Let’s consider two things for the church today: (1) recognizing pharisaical behavior, namely emphasizing outward religious motion over and above inward transformation and (2) the effect that these individuals can have on those who are weak in faith.

Jesus teaches us that we are not to be like the Pharisees. Consider the following:

Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

                                                                                                                        Matthew 6:1 

Regardless of the activity (prayer, fasting, giving, and so forth), we are not to do these things in such a way that other people will notice us. When the church gathers corporately, there will be activities that are visible by the whole simply by the very nature of the format. But in our private, spiritual lives, Jesus reminds us not to be “people pleasers” rather to be “God pleasers.” You could say that as we go about our daily lives, we should be focused on living for an audience of one, the One who created us and gave us life. Religious systems will often emphasize outward expressions of faith over authentic spiritual transformation. Religious systems focus on rules, statutes, and ordinances. To breach any of these structures is to risk rejection from the larger group and by default rejection from God (a destructive aspect of these teachings). Religion demands uniformity, the gospel promotes unity. This is what was going on with the Pharisees in the 1^st century.

Perhaps the most egregious part of pharisaical religious systems is the potential to disturb and disrupt the faith of believers (a theme Paul will take up in the rest of this letter). The tool most easily at the disposal of these religious leaders is fear. Consider the following:

Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.

                                                                                                                 John 12:42-43 

Some of these religious leaders believed in Jesus, but they didn’t openly confess the name of Christ for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. The Bible even tells us that the reason for this fear was that they loved the approval of men rather than God. What an indictment! But this fear wasn’t exclusively reserved for the leadership:

His parents answered them and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

                                                                                                                        John 9:20-23 

This is a beautiful story, well worth your time. In short, Jesus heals a blind man, restoring his sight. This sent the Pharisees into the normal spiral of plotting and scheming to try and stop Jesus. When questioning the parents of the newly seeing man, they deferred to their own son. Fear of public rejection was the root cause of this refusal to openly praise God for the healing. It is important to note that expulsion from the synagogue had religious, economic, and social ramifications that do not necessarily translate today.

So, Paul makes the bold statement that if he were still trying to please these religious men, he certainly would not be a “bond-servant” of Christ. I believe the concept of being a bond-servant is often misinterpreted. Read Matthew 11:28-30 if you want to get a good idea of what it means to take on the yoke of Christ and become His bondservant. Given the context of Galatians, I believe Paul uses this term to openly declare that his loyalty is to Christ and Christ alone and not to the religious systems in which he found himself entrapped during his former life. I believe it is a declaration of spiritual freedom. There would be no more fear of what someone else would say or do as a result of his dependence and loyalty to Jesus. That’s freedom!

We can live our lives in a constant search to please others or we can have a unilateral focus on pleasing God. Given the fact that at the conclusion of this life I will only answer to One, I believe the latter is the best option. What about you? The choice is yours!