Escaping the Fear of People

The gospel sets you free from the slavery of pleasing other people. One of the most significant moments of history--Pilate's trial of Jesus--was swayed by Pilate's fear of man. And it was Jesus' conviction and enduring of Pilate's condemnation that sets Christians free from this very fear. You cannot be both a man-pleaser and a servant of Christ. Paul's boldness in the gospel clearly offends many people. His motive is clear-he wants to see the gospel rescuing lost souls, which is a far cry from people-pleasing. Rather, Paul proves himself a God-pleaser. Pleasing God frees you from pleasing everyone else. Paul's past religious life was a life of man-pleasing but that was destroyed when he apprehended the gospel. The power of knowing that God already approves of you cuts away the need to win other people's approval. There is a cost involved in throwing off the expectations of people in order to embrace the fear of the Lord. A cost that returns inestimable dividends that you can never lose.