Jan 28 2019 Galatians 1: 1-17

If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

I had the pleasure of serving with our bishop yesterday for a visitation at a local church. In between the services, there was a conversation with the bishop. Paraphrasing a bit, one woman asked why mega-churches had full parking lots and traffic control, while many mainline Christian traditions don’t.

Of course, that’s a million dollar question, and there are theses written about this very topic. But yesterday’s answers were that 1) during times of societal turmoil, people like certitude. They want to be told what’s right and wrong, and more important, if they ascribe to the professed ‘right’, they want to know they’re saved and special, as opposed to all the others who don’t. My faith tradition leaves a lot of room for thinking and discerning about salvation, which is unsettling if you just want the answer. The second hypothesis offered was that some people seek a church experience similar to the culture – people are eager to be passively entertained.

To be clear, I am in no way knocking mega-churches. If people are connected to the true God – all loving, all welcoming, all forgiving, I could care less what venue that connection occurs. And I don’t think Paul was talking about mega churches; I mention it only as an example.

But I think that the bit from Galatians offers a healthy caution about the expectations of the world. Paul is saying that there is marked distinction between pleasing people and pleasing God. That sometimes Christ’s commandment to love God and love our neighbor puts us at odds with man’s desires. At odds with our desire for knowing we are saved while being able to look at those others who aren’t. Our desire to help ourselves, and people like us.

I’m all for pleasing people at the same time I’m serving God. I pray that I always stop to confirm God's will is done.