"Whose Approval Do You Seek" by Neal Pollard

I guess if you count the sermon that my dad wrote for me in

1979, the Bible says that

I preached faithfully mimicking his words. The first sermon in

my mind that I ever preached was in 1987.

And even though that was so long ago, I can still remember the nerves that

I felt and how intimidating that occasion was,

that nerves. And my dad had told me that when you get nervous,

you go and you stand and you face a wall and you talk

to yourself and you get your hands and your feet moving so that you get

all that nervous energy out, and it helps. And I thought by the

time that I got to 2026 that all those nerves would be gone, but they're

not. There's a lot of different reasons why a preacher

would feel nerves, and I can't speak for any other preacher but myself,

But there's all that's going on in your mind, and there's the time in which

you're trying to get all of that preached. And there's

making sure that what you say is said in the right spirit and received in

the spirit that it was intended. Sometimes it's a difficult

subject. And sometimes it is knowing that what you have to

say is true to God's Word, and yet it's not what people want to hear.

Hiram did a masterful job in Bible class in painting the picture of the

Apostle Paul as just as human as the rest of us.

And when he faced a congregation and had to speak to them about

some subject that they needed to hear about, he also had those same

feelings. I don't know what it was like for him when he delivered a lesson

out loud, but in, in his interchange with people,

he struggled through that the same as the rest of us. I wonder

if that's what is on Paul's mind when he writes to a church full

of new Christians. And he says, I want you to know that my coming to

you was not in vain. He says,

as we were approved by God to come among you to preach the gospel

of God, we did so with much suffering and affliction in Philippi,

and we did so with much opposition. But he said, but our exhortation

did not come by way of error or impurity,

or in deceit. He said, but as we were approved

by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing

men, but God who examines the heart.

For you know that we did not come ever with flattering speech or with a

pretext for greed, as God is our witness; nor

do we seek the glory of men, whether yourselves or others;

but as we were entrusted with the gospel, we spoke,

though as apostles we might have used our authority, but we proved

ourselves to be gentle among you, as tender as nursing

mothers with their children. So great was our affection to you that

we determined to impart not just the gospel of God, but our

very lives, because you were so dear to us.

1 Thessalonians 2:1-8.

1 Thessalonians 2:1–8

As he writes to them, I don't know if you can hear the trepidation,

the hesitancy, the concern for how his words were

going to be received. He had been accused apparently of not having

honorable intentions, and certainly that happened throughout his preaching life.

That the heart and center of this was, whose approval,

whose pleasure, whose acceptance do

I want? May I suggest to you that that's not just

the concern of a preacher, but of every Christian who is trying to live their

lives every day in the midst of other people. God made

us social creatures, and so we care what other people think.

We're concerned by how our words are going to be received, and so

we try to give great care that what we say is received in the spirit

intended. But there's also this part of us that knows sometimes we've got

to say things that are right that the world disagrees with, and we're concerned about

what kind of response we'll get in that. We care what

other people think. We want the approval. Of others.

When we think about our subject today and we look at 1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 2:1–10

2:1-10, we're going to see some things that are said

there that will help us with regard to that. But I think about a

young man by the name of Zachary Nazario who was 15

years old from New York, and he had seen this social media-driven

trend known as subway surfing. It's simply when you

get up on top of a moving subway train and you surf.

There had been a lot of videos that had gone out and had been viral.

And as the result of those viral videos, it grew—

created this trend to want to do that. And so he found himself

in February of 2023 being one who wanted to try it.

And so with his girlfriend watching, he jumped up on top of a moving subway

train, and just a few seconds later, that train hit a beam.

And he killed— he was killed. His mother,

Norma, made it her life's mission to try to tell everybody that

there is a price too steep to pay in order to have the acceptance

of other people. All you need to do is scour through the entertainment

pages or through athletics, and you will find those who, in order

to try to receive fame, they ruin their careers and

their lives. And we find ourselves in that same situation

sometimes. As social creatures who don't

want to be isolated and who don't want our words to be perceived as negative

or received in that way. And we shouldn't think the Apostle Paul was

exempt from that just because he was a preacher. Do you remember on one occasion

in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, the Apostle Paul says in that particular

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

passage that he did all things for all men, he became all things to

all men that by all means he might save some. 1 Corinthians chapter 9

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

and verse 22, But even in those situations, in those circumstances,

he was trying to please God and he was trying to save souls.

But all we've got to do is to walk throughout the Scriptures and we will

find examples of those who cared more about what people thought than they did

about what God thought. You think about someone no less than Aaron,

the brother of Moses, who as Moses goes up on Mount Sinai,

the people are clamoring for a god to deliver them.

Though the great God had already taken them so far. And so he made

that golden calf to please them, Exodus chapter 32.

Exodus 32 · chapter mention

Or you think about Saul, by his own words in 1 Samuel chapter

1 Samuel 15 · chapter mention

15 and verse 24, he said, I spared Agag's

life because I fear the people. And on how many

occasions do we find the false prophets throughout the Old Testament

as they bend their message to the masses or to please

some important person. Or you think about Jesus and his

ministry and how as he was teaching so effectively

that many of the rulers of the synagogue believed in him.

And yet because of their fear of being cast out of the synagogues, they would

not confess him because they loved the approval of men rather than the

approval of God. John chapter 12, verse 42 and 43.

John 12:42

Enter the Apostle Paul who has a conviction

that he wants to please God even if he has to risk

the feathers. And so, he defends his integrity

as a teacher of the gospel. But in the midst of that,

he says, here's the approval of men and

here's the approval of God. If you'll turn in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8,

1 Thessalonians 2:1–8

I want us to make just 3 observations today.

The observations that I'd like for us to make are with regard

to this very subject. Number one, I'd like for us to notice how we seek

the approval of man. When we see Paul talking

about his ministry, he said that, I came to you after suffering and

after going through mistreatment in Philippi. All we've got to do is go back to

Acts chapter 16 and we see what his truly preaching the

Acts 16 · chapter mention

gospel had cost him. And he said, after that, we came to you as

you yourselves know. And he said, we preached the God through much

opposition. First of all, notice the word much. There was a

lot. There was not just opposition in Philippi, but everywhere

he went on the missionary journeys. And as he goes to Thessalonica, he's going to

face some more. But I want you to pay attention for a moment to that

word opposition. It is from the Greek word agonai.

You can hear the word in it, can't you? Agony. It is the

idea that the Greeks used of fighting and striving

and competing to win, whether it's boxing or wrestling or in running

or whatever it And Paul says, this was how we were sharing the

truth of God's Word, with this kind of strife.

But he was accused of not being an honest teacher of the Word.

And in the midst of all of that, we see— and guys, why don't you

go ahead and kill that? We're going to distract me and everybody else. I appreciate

that. I'll wait for you. When we look

at what is said there, The quickest sermon

I ever preached. All right. This thing

here is not working and it's not talking to that. So in case you're wondering,

when you think about Paul and what he says about how it is that we

seek the approval of men, he is going to bring up some of the ways

that we seek the approval of men. And the first way he says

is by excusing error.

When Paul says, we did not come to you by way of these particular means,

the first thing he says is, is we did not come by way of error.

There is an impulse inside of all of us that

wants us to defend ourselves against every opposition,

every accusation of sin and wrongdoing in our lives.

Paul is saying that we didn't feed that. We knew that this

impulse exists in you and that there's this default position to say, there's nothing wrong

in what I did. And so, we can find ourselves every day

trying to tell somebody, look, I know what the Bible says, or maybe some people

say the Bible say this, but it's okay. You can do this. You can stay

in this. So Paul says that that's one way

in which we seek the approval of men is by

excusing error. But another way in which we seek the approval

of men is by endorsing impurity.

When you hear Paul say impurity, he's talking about that which is dirty, that which

is impure, that which is immoral. And if

there is one area in which people want their immorality to

be defended, it has to do with the sexual decisions that

they make in this life. You may have seen a picture of a WNBA star

flash across the screen a moment ago. She is drawing a lot of fire,

not because of her play on the court, although there's some controversy in that league

this season anyway, but simply in many arenas because

she says that a girl is a girl and a boy is a boy.

No one wants to be told that they are an adulterer or

a fornicator or homosexual or an immoral person.

And we live in that atmosphere where there's very little tolerance for talking about

that. And so, we're pressured, as Paul might have been, to bring a message

with impurity. But he said, we did not do that.

But he said, it also did not come by way of deceit.

We are tempted to practice deceit. That's one of the ways in which we try

to please men. The word that's deceit there is a word

meant to catch with bait, but it came to mean to say something to

gain an advantage on someone else. When we

think about deceiving someone, this is the idea of telling them that,

that what they're doing is okay when it's not okay,

that perhaps a religious decision that was made in the past

that is in contradiction to God's Word is in harmony

with God's Word, or religious practice that they're a part of is

okay even though the Bible says that it's not. Deceiving is

to lead someone to think that something is true, to not tell the whole

truth or the whole story, or to say something to leave

an impression. And you think about how we find ourselves

in circumstances like that all the time where

someone is engaged in error. And John's

going to say in 1 John 4:6, hereby know we the Spirit of truth and

1 John 4:6

the spirit of error. And knowing that something is true and something is erroneous

is one thing, but then facing somebody who is living in error is something else.

And then there's the matter of impurity, especially with regard to personal lifestyle

decisions, especially with regard to one of our basic drives and telling

somebody in a circumstance. And I wonder in that there are those

in the Bible who face the pressure to give into that. Do you ever

think about John the Baptist and how much, how difficult it must have

been for him? John the Baptist was speaking to Herod and

his— not really his wife, his brother Philip's wife,

Herodias. And he was saying that it was unlawful for Herod to be

married to her. And so John— I mean, Herod went and got him and bound

him in prison because he preached that. And Herodias had a grudge against

him and wanted to put him to death, but could not, Mark 6:17-19.

Mark 6:17–19

Or I think about Nathan. Would you like to have had

the mission that Nathan was given? David has committed

adultery with Bathsheba. He has put Uriah to death and

now Nathan is called to go to him. And in 2 Samuel chapter 12

2 Samuel 12 · chapter mention

and verse 9, he says, you have disregarded the word of the Lord and done

evil in his sight and you have put to death Uriah the Hittite and

have taken his wife to be your wife and you have killed him with the

sword of the sons of Ammon. And then

there's deceit, leaving someone with the impression

that they're okay. In 1938,

if you would've asked who is the greatest leader in Europe,

in Great Britain, is it Neville Chamberlain or is it

Winston Churchill? You'd had a hard time finding anybody

who would've said Churchill. They would've all said Chamberlain. And here's what happened in

1938. There was a conference, a Munich Conference,

in which he went and he met with the representative of Nazi Germany.

Adolf Hitler. And Hitler wanted to annex Czechoslovakia.

And because we had just gone through a world war in which over 20 million

people died, he appeased Hitler. He came back and

even bragged about it to the press. But here's Winston Churchill

who's saying, no, we've got to fight against this evil, this encroaching aggression.

And he was isolated. There was nobody more unpopular among political leaders in

Great Britain than Winston Churchill. He was called a warmonger.

2 years later, ironically, Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister

in place of Neville Chamberlain, and he awakened the need to oppose evil

in his country and around the world. And if you look back at

who was the greatest leader today, nobody would say Chamberlain. They'd say he's an

utter failure. They would say the hero is Winston Churchill.

And it's easy for us to look back, but think about how

we live out each and every day, and we're

faced with the temptation to tell people what it is that they want to hear.

It's easier in the short term, in the here and now, for us to say,

look, it's okay, just do what you want to do,

and the world may applaud us. We can stand up

and say the very difficult, and there may be those who will say those things

about us that are unflattering and that hurt. But in

retrospect, which perspective do we want?

Do we want God to praise us at the end for having stood up for

Him, or in that moment, bend to the will of others and please them.

And so the Apostle Paul shows how we seek the approval

of men. We do so in the ways that we just saw, through endorsing

error, by endorsing impurity, and by practicing

deceit. But the second thing I want us to notice that is equally

important in my mind is why is it that

we seek the approval of men? If Scripture is so plain that

it's wrong for us to do, why are we tempted to do it so often?

Now, maybe there are some answers that you have in your mind that you would

answer that, but as you consider them, Paul gives 3.

It's not exhaustive, but I think it's representative of

why it is that we want to gain the approval of others.

One of the reasons why we seek the approval of men is

we want to gain an advantage.

Paul says that we never spoke to you with flattering speech.

When you consider what flattery is, flattery is saying something nice about

somebody that you don't mean in order to win or influence

them. Paul said, never ever did we

do that. It wasn't our motivation. We didn't try to get an advantage

over you by saying what it is that you wanted. You know, the Bible has

a lot to say about flattery. I think about Ezekiel who writes

in Ezekiel 13:16, and he talks about the prophets who prophesied

Ezekiel 13:16

to Israel and Jerusalem, and they say a message of peace peace when

there is no peace. Ezekiel chapter 13 and verse 16.

Ezekiel 13 · chapter mention

Well, you think about Rehoboam, he's following his father Solomon and

he's faced with a decision of what we should do for the kingdom. Should we

lighten their tax load or should we continue to have it as it was?

And the wise men who were with his father Solomon gave him some good advice,

but then there were some young men that came along and flattered him and spoke

to his vanity and said, your little pinky will be thicker than your father's loins.

And through that That flattery, by saying something

to win his favor, a kingdom was split. 1 Kings 12:10-11.

1 Kings 12:10–11

Or you think about in the New Testament, there's Tyre and Sidon,

and Herod comes to them in Acts 12:22,

Acts 12:22

and they praise him with flattering words, saying, these are the words of

the voice of God and not of men. And that flattery in this occasion

hurt the one who embraced it and accepted it, and he lost his life.

In Acts 24:2, you have Tertullus, who is a

Acts 24:2

lawyer representing the Jews who are trying to have Paul condemned, and they practice

flattery in order to try to reach the heart of

the vain and brutal Felix. Flattery is used by false

teachers to deceive, Romans 16:18, to gain an advantage,

Romans 16:18

Jude 1:16, and David calls it plain old-fashioned wickedness,

Jude 1:16

Psalm 5:9.

Psalms 5:9

And yet we find ourselves perhaps thinking that if we

will say words to flatter somebody else, we can grease the wheels of some

advantage that we can gain. It's a temptation

that we face. Another temptation that we face

as to why we would seek the approval of men is greed.

Paul says that we never came with a pretext for

greed. Now, for this, he says, God is my witness.

Paul could say, you can listen and hear that there was never flattery in our

speech, but what about our motivation? Were we moved by greed?

He says, God knows that we didn't. Now,

you may remember if you're old enough that Madonna had the hit Material

Girl in 1985, and she said something that is certainly true

of the '80s. She said, we are living in a material world.

This became known as the anthem of the '80s. It represented the

desire and the drive for money and consumerism that was so true in

the '80s, but it's just as true today as it was then.

Greed is not simply the desire to have more or more

of what is needed, but to have more, to have more than others have.

And through that, to be able to be seen as those who are to be

admired and respected because we've accumulated more of the things of this

life. You know, Jesus was focused on how that can complicate

the life of a disciple. In Mark 7:21-23,

Mark 7:21–23

he calls it coveting. And he says it's evil and he says it

defiles. And then in Luke chapter 12 and verse 15, he says, take heed

Luke 12 · chapter mention

and be aware of every form of greed, for a

person's life does not consist in the abundance of the things that he

possesses. Luke 12 and verse 15. And then he follows that up with one of

the more sobering parables in all of the gospels in which a

rich farmer because of his greed loses his soul. And Paul says in Ephesians

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5 and verse 3, that greed is not once to be

named among you. It is not proper for those who have been set apart by

God. Our desire to have the things of this world

can cause us to say whatever it is that we think that people want to

hear. Now, it's easy for us to see how a preacher might bend his message

in that way. In a public forum or in a one-on-one conversation,

perhaps we want to make sure that we don't say the wrong thing to somebody

that we're trying to persuade or win over. If it

might hurt our pocketbook. But I don't care who you are,

if you find yourself trying to live in this world, there are going to be

moments when you've got to make a choice as to what do you want?

The treasures that can't be taken away are the ones that can, Matthew 6:19-21.

Matthew 6:19–21

And then he gives a third reason why we seek the approval of men,

and that's glory. Someone might say that the

greed is the means to an end and glory is the end.

We want to be envied by others. We want them to see and look at

us and see popularity and status. And so the Apostle

Paul could say, when you look at our lives and the ministry that we did

among you, we did not do that. And so it challenges each

of us. Am I trying to gain an advantage on

someone else when I talk to them about especially spiritual

things? Am I motivated by greed? Am I trying to make sure

it doesn't hurt my bottom line? And that may be as we do business,

that may be in our friendships, in our relationships that we're trying

to cultivate. And are we seeking the glory and

the admiration of others? You know, the business world

and corporations have picked up on that.

They realize through social media platforms, they feed into this

desire for glory that we have. You know, 30 years ago,

if you wanted to seek fame and glory, you'd have to move out to Hollywood

or go up to New York or go to Nashville. And try out and

to try to live the life and make the sacrifices in order to do that.

But now all you need is a smartphone and a social

media account, and everybody wants to be a star.

The devil understands that. One of the 3 avenues of temptation

is the pride of life. 1 John 2:16,

1 John 2:16

and Jesus says, woe unto you when all men speak well of you,

for so did their fathers, the false prophets, Luke 6:26.

Luke 6:26

Now, Paul is saying we didn't do these things, but these

are some of the ways in which people seek the approval of

men. And then he comes along and he says, here's why. There's these basic drives

within us that would move us to do that. But the third thing I want

to observe before we close is that Paul

shows us how we can seek the approval of God. You know what I love

about Paul? He doesn't just present the problem, but he gives some practical tips,

some principles that can help us. And I

want you to notice as we walk through these that some of these are easier

than others, but all of them are effective. Here they are very quickly.

Number 1, he says, in essence, be bold.

He says that by saying that we preach the gospel to you with boldness,

as you know. Boldness does not mean rudeness

and crudeness and sarcasm and insults and putting other people

down. Paul is going to demonstrate that later in this paragraph.

But here's the boldness that's under consideration.

When God needs me to speak up for him, I can't

be afraid of what people are going to think. We mentioned this passage

in Bible class this morning, Matthew 10:28. The Bible says, do not fear him

Matthew 10:28

who is able to kill the body but is not able to kill the soul,

but rather fear him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell.

In John, at the end of the Bible, in Revelation 21:8, he talks about

Revelation 21:8

these activities that we might give into that will cost us our eternity with God.

And headlining that list this is cowardice,

and it goes right alongside of murder and fornication

and idolatry. And so the boldness that he calls for is a boldness

that causes us to stand up even in difficult

moments. But what will help us to do that? What about a gratitude

for the cross? What about an appreciation of

how deeply and profoundly God loves us?

What if we will make his priorities our priorities?

What if we are set on responding to the love and

the sacrifice of heaven by being willing to do so? All of this

and more can feed a boldness in us that God

is counting on us to have. Be bold. But then number 2,

be aware. In verse 4, you know, Paul has said a lot about God

knows, he's our witness. He says,

God examines the heart. He said, we're approved by God and so we speak not

as pleasing men, but God. Who examines the heart.

It is so easy for me to convince myself that I'm fine

where I am, but God tells us to go deeper. He says, every way

of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.

Proverbs 21 and verse 2. Proverbs 16 and verse 2.

God sees and searches the heart. 1 Samuel chapter

1 Samuel 16 · chapter mention

16 and verse 7. And God who sees down tells us, you need

to examine yourself. 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 5. Be aware of

how you're thinking and what you're thinking. Are you seeking God's

approval or man's approval? But then he says,

be genuine, verse 5 and verse 6.

Be who you say that you are. Be right. Be the same person everywhere

that you are with whomever you find yourself.

Don't use a pretext. He said, we weren't beset by flattery

and these other your motivations.

Then number 4, be gentle. Paul never

sacrificed love and compassion in order to tell people the things

that they needed to hear. If you want a contrast

of being driven by compassion and love and being driven otherwise,

even in religion, think about the woman caught in adultery in John chapter 8.

John 8 · chapter mention

Who was this woman? This woman was an object of curiosity

and amusement for the bystanders who were watching everything take place in

John chapter 8. Of sexual attraction

John 8 · chapter mention

to one man. She was one that was a pawn in the hands

of the scribes and Pharisees, but to Jesus, she was a person

to defend, a soul to save, and a forgiven person to send on

their way. And Paul is expressing this kind of compassion.

You don't have to sacrifice one whit, one iota of love in

order to share the truth with somebody. You know, medieval blacksmiths

departed from the normal way of shodding a horse with a smooth

horseshoe. They decided they would put cutting edges

on them and jagged points. And to a dying man

on the battlefield, the approach of a warhorse was terrifying. And the idea

of running over somebody who is already down and out has been now

known as running roughshod over a person. And it comes from that practice.

You ever known somebody who was very— would profess themselves to be very

spiritual, but they would stomp on somebody who was already spiritually

down and out? Paul would say, we've got to be

careful to be gentle with those who are lost, 2 Timothy 2:23,

2 Timothy 2:23

and be gentle with those who are wayward, Galatians 6:1.

Galatians 6:1

And so Paul says, even as we were motivated to do God's will God's way,

we were gentle. But then we look

and we see that he was— he would say, be sacrificial.

In verse 8, Paul says that when we came and we preached

to you, we not only imparted to you the gospel of God, but our very

lives because you were so dear to us.

The sacrifices of the Apostle Paul are abundantly illustrated

throughout the New Testament, and it points out something that's helpful to us When

we try to live in this world, we're not trying to compromise

the truth, but we are going to spend and be spent. 2 Corinthians 12:15,

2 Corinthians 12:15

we're willing to put in the time and the energy

and the resources to help somebody who's struggling.

And you know, when you do that, when you invest in people,

they'll allow you to say even very difficult things because they know that you

care about them and you've demonstrated that. How do we do that? Paul gives some

great tips that will help us to want to please God.

You know, when you think about the Apostle Paul, he points out this idea

that we, we have a choice to make and

we're going to make one choice or the other. Moses was in

this predicament every day of his life. By faith Moses,

when he came of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,

choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the

pleasures of sin for a season. Esteeming the riches of Christ greater treasure

than all in Egypt because he had respect for the reward, Hebrews 11:24-26.

Hebrews 11:24–26

And it would seem to me that of all people living in this world,

the one who should have a good, clear image of self

and should have a confidence to try to please God above men,

it should be a child of God. We know we're an image bearer

of God, Genesis 1:26-27. We can read in God's Word

Genesis 1:26–27

that the favor and the attention and the approval of men

is fleeting. We know and understand that of all relationships

that we cultivate, none is more important than our relationship with God,

2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 18. And we

2 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

realize that what God prioritizes must be what we do

as well. The choice that we face as

we live and go from this place out without the insulation of

our brothers and sisters in Christ is whose approval am

I seeking? Paul shows us some of the ways that we do that and why

we do it, but then he gives us even more reason to seek

the approval of God. Whose approval are

you seeking today? You know, when it comes to what God says

to do to be saved, men say a lot of different things.

But we've got to go with what God says. God tells us to

respond to the great love and sacrifice and grace of the cross through

obedient faith. It includes believing that Jesus is the Son

of God, repenting of sins, and being baptized.

And for those of us who are children of God, as we fight that battle

every day, we've got to be sure that we're trying to please him. And when

we don't, we need to draw on the resources he gives us to find

that courage again. One of the ways that he does that is when we have

struggled to walk in the light, that we can make that known, turn away from

it, ask our brothers and sisters to pray for us. If that's a

need you have today, we would encourage you to respond even right now as we

stand and sing.