Lots of people have a hard time determining if they should be pleasing people or pleasing God. Somehow these folks think that there is an overlap in the two. With a mindset like that, it creates an issue. There is no overlap between pleasing people or pleasing God. Anyone who has read the Bible or has even heard snippets of what the Bible says, knows that our first priority is to God. But somehow that message gets lost in translation frequently within the Christian community. We are not too far removed from all things covid. A time where edicts from men ruled the land and the word of God was thrown to the side. This situation was a huge eye opener for me when it comes to how Christians obey God vs people.
Acts 5:29 New American Standard Bible 1995
29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
In full context of the verse, chapter 5 in this section was referencing Peter and the apostle’s reaction to being told by the high priest not to speak of Jesus. The high priest was the leading religious authority in Jerusalem at the time. Part of the issue between the high priest and the apostles was that the high priest desired to maintain power. Power was eroded when the apostles spoke of Jesus and presented an opposing view in the world. A parallel can be drawn to modern times in several ways. First, the idea that the apostles were preaching about Jesus made them a target for being attacked by the political leaders of their day. Second, the power grab made by the high priest was done to ensure that their philosophy was the only allowed to be relevant. Every other opposing view was shut down.
Are church leaders pleasing people or pleasing God?
During covid, those of us who wanted to attend church in person were told by our political leaders that we were not allowed to worship in person. There were edicts made by the powers to be to stifle the word of God. A case cannot be made to justify these actions by any other thing than wicked and demonic behavior. Many of us were told that there would be punishment handed down if we continued to worship in person and spread the word of God. Fearful church leaders bowed to the threats out of their weakness and lack of faithfulness to the word of God. But instead of accepting the fact that they were cowards, they tried to justify their behavior by some perverted word salad put together in Romans 13.
Instead of continuing to preach the word of God in defiance of an unjust and demonic edict, these weak leaders from the pulpit went along with the commands of man while ignoring the instruction of God. These so-called-leaders couldn’t decide if they were pleasing people or pleasing God. They tried to have it both ways. They would cherry pick a Bible verse here and there to justify their cowardice. They left the body to follow a role of secular obedience. When asked how they could follow edicts allowing liquor stores and porn shops to stay open but willingly allow the door to their church be closed, many of these weak fools kept their lips tight. They ran from accountability and tried to pervert the word of God in a way that made them look like an empathetic hero watching over their flock.
Governments most certainly did try to silence Christians.
Forced government closures of churches were most certainly targeted towards religions. When you have large retail centers with tens of thousands of square feet and hundreds of guests shopping, closing churches most certainly shows selective targeting. The justification for the closures was calling businesses essential and churches non-essential. Does your church leadership view your church as essential or non-essential? Look no further than how they responded to instructions to close the doors on the house of God. I find it very hard to believe that the love of God is shown when people show up to worship God and find a closed sign on the door. Doesn’t seem like outreach to me.
I have yet to see any repentance or remorse from these timid weaklings. Just like the high priests in Acts, these church leaders kept the word of God quiet to maintain their power. Many people followed right along with the cowardly behavior. Some of us kept preaching the word and following the command of God to go out into the world. We didn’t cower when our political leaders and church leaders told us to hide at home and be quiet. We got louder and spoke more truth into life. See brothers and sisters, evil divides the body. Cowardice divides the body. Anyone in any leadership role should be ashamed of themselves for closing the doors of their church. Do you think that you will hear well done good and faithful servant because you locked your doors and hid in your basement?
The Apostles didn’t stay home and hide when they were told to stop talking about Jesus. They continued to go out into the world every day sharing the good news. They defied political leaders and high priests. They stayed on mission knowing that they were bond servants of God. These men knew who their master was and what forces were of this world. These men knew that pleasing people or pleasing God was a choice that they had to make. We cannot serve two masters at the same time. Thousands of years later we still have lots of brothers and sisters that eagerly serve man while looking past their God. Who do you serve?