Biblical Success - 5 Hurdles in the Path of Our RaceSample

Hurdle # 3 - Desire for The Approval of Man

Each of us has an innate desire to be liked and popular and to feel approved by others. We also a share a fear of being rejected by them. It is perfectly natural, and when held in a Biblical perspective, these can be healthy impulses. However in contemporary culture and in the presence of our ubiquitous social media they can be distorted to great harm in the lives of Christ followers. What we do and the choices that we make in the “now” of mortal life will be super important in the “then” of the immortal life we are running towards. 

As Christ followers we have a problem: we have a common enemy who promotes an agenda that is very popular with our flesh and the world but very unpopular with our God. The agenda of the world and its values have been at war with God since the Garden of Eden, and an insatiable desire for the approval of others often wars against our desire for the approval of God. As our scripture says we “can’t serve two masters.” It doesn’t say it is hard or difficult; it says we can’t. Period. 

It is like a runner trying to listen to two conflicting trainers while they run and trying to win favor with both. We are raised in a culture that is soaked with performance based approval and competition. We are often given approval, based on metrics, that in most cases are worldly and valueless in eternity. As we cross the finish line of The Race of Life, at our last breath, all the things of this world will fall away and be lost to us forever. Are we clear? 

How can we sort through all the noise and “seek first the Kingdom of God?” What helps you play for The Audience of One who is, at the end of the day, the only One who matters.?