2 You yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our coming to you was not in vain,2but though we had already suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi, as you know, we had courage in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in spite of great opposition.3For our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motives or trickery,4but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, even so we speak, not to please mortals, but to please God who tests our hearts.5As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed;6nor did we seek praise from mortals, whether from you or from others,
7though we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.8So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.
There can be such a pull to 'please people.' When that takes place, preachers talk around the edge of things or they jump into the 'issue of the day' without the vision of the Good News. In either case, I wonder if the Good News is being brought forth. Insiders in the church often think that we always bring forth the Good News because that is what we say we do. Unfortunately if the word that comes forth from us is laced with nothing more than an attempt to have someone one like who we are so that they will want to be one of us, then what is it that we are offering. What people want is not always that which brings the life of the peaceable Reign of God. In fact it often brings division and war.
But what is 'pleasing God'? In some ways it is as simple as extending a hand rather than pointing with that hand. When we open our hand to another we do not know what the response will be. And yet, we still open ourselves up to the other person. We may take a hit for that action - and yet we extend ourselves to the other person because humanity is at its fullest when we are relational - we are the image of God. To be relational, we must move out to others. If we do that moving in order to please others, we cannot say that we are truly offering ourselves to the relationship. There is another agenda on the table - and it is one that can very easily turn sour. So when we hear that God 'tests our hearts' it is a reminder to us to look at the character of the One whose image we display. Everyday is an opportunity to exercise that image and show the world a piece of the life-giving love that has the power to create relationships of peace, respect, and honor.
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