MAKING MUCH OF MEN

Gal 2:6- 'As for those who seemed to be important- whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance- those men added nothing to my message.'

It is incredibly hard for men to not make much of other men. Much of today's Church loves to make much of men and their talents, gifts, abilities and much of their service. We have gone far beyond 'honouring' (which is a good and Godly thing to show those that serve), we, because of the weakness of our own flesh, have made idols out of men. We speak often of their great words and their great works. We become awed at what the Lord is working through them and how the Lord is using them to speak. We become like the crowd that tried to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas when God performed a miracle of healing through Paul, and we forget that the sacrifice of our lives is not meant for other men, but it is meant for the Lord God alone. Our sacrifice and our 'honouring' really becomes idolatry because while we think we are serving and sacrificing for God, we are really doing this for men. So why do we do this?

Pride is the main reason why we do this; pride in ourselves and pride in men. Pride within our own hearts because secretly we wish to be 'great' and seen as great to others, and so we make much of others because if the Church sees them as great, then maybe, just maybe we can reach the level they reached, and have men love and adore us just like we adore them. We also become proud of other men, making idols out of them by giving them too much attention and too much honour, which really means we come to give them the glory that belongs to the Lord alone. We do this usually because of their appearance to others and their appearance to ourselves. There was a time when Jesus didn't accept the TESTIMONY of men because, 'John 2:24+25- But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. 25 He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person.' There is a kind of testimony that the Lord does not accept from those that serve Him. He does not except that kind of testimony from His Church which is done because of self and in order to glorify self. 

Much of this glorifying, quite sadly, goes on quite frequently in the Church today. The spotlight is turned on the Pastor, and away they go. Jokes rule the stage, and every story centres on their lives and what God has done through them. TV screens show performances and humorous skits, fluorescent lights highlight the stage and the musicians, and all eyes centre on men, while trying to focus on the Lord (contradiction anyone???). Men except praise that shouldn't be theirs, and accept sacrifices that also shouldn't be theirs. All the while the Word still testifies that John the Baptist said that, 'He must increase, but I must decrease' and the Apostle Paul said that he would boast in nothing except his weakness and nothing except the Lord and His cross. 

All this may appear quite harsh at first glance, but is it really so 'out-there' when we think about it carefully? We've all done this at times, we've all accepted praise we shouldn't have, and we've all made more of men than we should. The point, however, is that we as a Church should try to guard ourselves, as much as possible (knowing the weakness of our flesh) against falling to the temptation of idolising men. Pride was the sin that made the enemy fall, and are we strong? God works actively to hide pride from men, we as a Church must, with all of His Grace that works so powerfully in us, continually work to hide ourselves as much as we can from becoming entangled with such a destructive sin. If that means we have to lose much of the frivolity and trappings that have hindered and ensnared much of the Church today, is that too high a price to pay? If we believe it is, we are loving men too much, and we are sacrificing, not to the Lord, but to them.