You cannot be a people pleaser and a God pleaser at the same time

You cannot be a people pleaser and a God pleaser at the same time
I recently pondered two opposite responses to the same worship service at Radiant. One was extremely excited about their incredible worship experience, and the other was not enthusiastic about our worship style. So, I asked The Holy Spirit to speak to me about this. And of course, He did. Once again, it was so clear and distinct: Do not look to the people for your guidance and direction in leading the church. You look to Me for My guidance and direction in leading the church. 

Then, He immediately reminded me of Aaron, when Moses went up the mountain and left Aaron in charge. Moses would go to the mountain to seek God’s face and receive His orders and directives. Aaron on the other hand, looked to the people and their faces to receive his orders and directives, leading to idolatry. The people didn’t like the way God had led them through Aaron and Moses, so they began to complain. Aaron wanted to please the people, so he complied, and out came the golden calf.

The Holy Spirit reminded me again that you cannot be a people pleaser and a God pleaser at the same time.
Many people in the body of Christ today are living and acting like Aaron and the Israelites. Unfortunately, many pastors and leaders in the American church today are just like Aaron. The people are coming to them to complain about The God of The Bible. They argue that God is too harsh in The Old Testament and that we need to avoid portions of the Bible that point to this. I personally know many people who identify as “Christian,” yet, they insist that God’s standards are too high and must be lowered to appeal to the world and culture. Sadly, many denominations have completely given into this mindset and are already worshipping around their “golden calves” that embrace what God has declared to be sin. They are modern-day golden calf worshippers and think they are worshipping God.

This is a very prominent trend today and must be avoided by every true follower of Jesus Christ at all cost. That means that it will most certainly cost you something to follow The God of The Bible. Choosing to follow Jesus means you must be willing to lose followers on social media platforms who disapprove of Biblical standards and Truth. Passionately following Jesus is what God calls every one of us to, and with that calling comes a great sacrifice. We must be willing to lay down everything to follow Him. That means it may cost us relationships, friendships, and even family ties when we are forced to choose if we will worship The One True God of The Bible or create a god that the world, culture, and peers are more comfortable with.
There are many golden calf worshippers today who believe they are Christians, but somewhere along the way, they got off on the wrong exit and began to follow false gods. Here’s how it happens: They make a commitment to Christ, and they start out worshipping Jesus, Who (by the way) is one with His Word (read John chapter 1:1-14). However, down the road, it begins to get a bit bumpy, and they start to experience some resistance, scorn, and rebuke from people in their life whom they love and care about. Or, they may themselves begin to struggle with sin, passions, desires, and tendencies that oppose God’s Word. Rather than denying themselves, taking up their cross, and following Jesus, they begin to compromise and justify embracing what God opposes. They find it too painful and too costly to lose the approval of friends, relatives, peers, and culture. They desire the approval and acceptance of people more than the approval of God, so they begin to reject God’s Word as Truth and begin to fashion for themselves their own gods. So they whittle away the undesirable portions of His Word, and they ignore anything that would make people uncomfortable, and then they throw up their hands in delight and proudly claim that they are Christian. While they deny His Truth and call what is evil – good and what is good – evil.

I saw a Facebook post from a woman in our city who was asking for recommendations of finding a Christian church that embraces and celebrates the LGBTQ agenda. My heart went out to this individual, and I began to pray for her. If she is looking for a “Christian” church like this, then why stop there? You might as well look for a “Christian” Church that embraces and celebrates adultery, pornography, murder, drunkenness, stealing…and so on. This is a clever deception of the enemy and it is golden calf worship. It is both appalling and heartbreaking that the enemy has deceived the masses into believing that they shall be as god and they shall determine what is good and what is evil. My heart is so grieved and broken over this. This ideology is rooted in the original lie that the serpent used to deceive Adam and Eve in Genesis. The serpent tricked them into doubting God’s Word and convinced them that God was wrong and that they were right. There truly is nothing new under the sun. The devil does not have any new tricks up his sleeve.
So I want to encourage you today to break free from the trap of approval addiction that always leads to idolatry. Pray against all forms of idolatry in your own life, in your family, and in the church.
Let’s be true worshippers who worship Him in Spirit and Truth. For His Glory,  

Pastor Kelly Hudnall