Pleasing Others

 Years ago I was in the seaside neighbourhood of Mangagoy, Bislig, ministering in a couple of churches. 

One Sunday my hosts arranged for me to go to another church to minister. In that particular church I found myself doing something I didn't normally do. 

Most of the time wherever I ministered to people and prayed for them, I'd just speak words or lay hands on them—but in this particular church, I asked for a bottle of anointing oil. 

Everyone I prayed for, I anointed them with oil. I didn't pray for a single person without also anointing them with oil—no matter what it was we were praying for! 

That was unusual for me—elsewhere I'd anointed people with oil on occasion, of course—but I'd never done so quite like this before, nor since. 

Later I was telling someone about it—and she remarked that that particular church had a reputation for being almost fanatical about anointing with oil: apparently they anointed members with oil for almost anything and everything. It was pretty-much a feature of their church.

I didn't know that, but I realised then that the Lord had made me fit right in with them.

More recently in the city of Ipswich, Queensland, one Sunday I had plans to go to an afternoon/evening meeting, but I had nothing scheduled in the morning. And while getting dressed for the day, I distinctly felt led to put on a white shirt. 

So I put on a plain white button-up business shirt, neatly ironed. Then I went out for a drive. 

As I turned a corner, I passed an old wooden church. Lots of cars were parked outside on the lawn. So I decided spontaneously to go in.

When I entered the foyer, I noticed everyone had taken their shoes off, so I did the same. 

Then I opened the door to the main sanctuary—the service had already started, and I saw that everyone was kneeling down. So I quietly found a place, and did the same.

It was a traditional Samoan church. As the only non-islander in the place, I'm sure I must have looked quite conspicuous.

However, everyone—and I mean everyone, from young to old—was wearing white—pure white, from head to foot almost.

Once again, I realised the Lord had made me fit in as best I could.

Some years before that, one Sunday afternoon while getting ready to go to the evening service at my home church, I felt prompted by the Lord to wear a formal pair of trousers.

"You're going to be asked to pray for people tonight," I felt the Lord explain.

Being at the Gold Coast, a lot of us often went to church dressed quite casually. And I wasn't part of the usual prayer-team in our church, so I didn't usually go out and pray for people on the prayer-lines.

Our late-pastor however, having come from Ireland, liked to dress well for church: he nearly always wore a suit and tie. 

Sure enough that night at church, our pastor spontaneously asked me to come forward and pray for people. I was ready, in more ways than one! 

I remember also when my brother and I were both young, we played brass in our church worship-band—I often asked the Lord what to wear.

And inevitably my brother would emerge from his room having put on the same colour and style. We matched, on the stage. 

It must have looked like we'd planned it, but we hadn't. Evidently the Lord had though.

Why?

One reason may be: just because He (God) is nice! Pure aesthetics—just for fun, even. God doesn't only do things that seriously matter. He is an artist, after all!

Another reason may be: to give us confidence—in the circumstances we’re going in to. 

But there's another lesson I want to draw out of it too—something else in it that I love about the Lord God:

𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴—so, we ought to be too.  

There ought to be a certain softness about us. An amicability. A willingness to play along.

It's totally okay for us to do that—even in matters we know aren't strictly necessary to do. 

If something's important to someone else, God can work alongside that. Therefore so can we, and we can do so happily!

If someone even just likes things a certain way—God works with that too: and therefore so can we. 

We can have this nature about us.

Paul said to behave compliantly to every ordinance of man: for the Lord’s sake—not because we're not free, but because we are free.  

Since we're free 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰, we're free 𝘵𝘰. 

The grace and freedom we’ve received, don’t need to become the reason for a new strictness and bondage.  

The true grace of God makes us delight in going along with other people’s things, for their sakes: just because we can. Even when we know they’re things they don't really have to do. 

Paul wrote to Titus for example to exhort any church-members who were servants to behave compliantly within that social institution, even though really they were free—so that we may "adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things" (see Titus 2:8-10).

It may be that in turn, a master, as a result of seeing such Messiah-likeness in his servant, would believe, and give to his servant the free-status which they both already had in Jesus. Scripture, and history, show that that very outcome happened, and is happening.  

That demeanour helped remove avoidable barriers towards others in society accepting the church and its message. Ultimately that demeanour is, and will be, victorious.

Paul conducted his own life and ministry with that same delightful attitude: 

"𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗜 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗻, 𝘆𝗲𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗜 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗜 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗝𝗲𝘄, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗝𝗲𝘄𝘀; 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘄, 𝗮𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘄, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘄;

𝗧𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘄, 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘄, (𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁,) 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗹𝗮𝘄.

𝗧𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗜 𝗮𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗸: 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗻, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲.

𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹'𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗸𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂" (I Corinthians 9:18-23). 

For example, when Paul wanted Timothy to go out with him on his missionary journeys, he took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek (see Acts 16:3). 

Paul circumcised Timothy even though he knew that circumcision itself availed for nothing. He knew believers were freed, yet he was willing to be culturally compliant, in order to remove any avoidable barriers in the way of Jews being able to feel comfortable with his ministry-team and with his message.

Similarly, Paul knew that all food was allowable, yet he said he'd rather not eat certain foods as long as he lived, if eating it was going to upset a brother who felt some food wasn’t allowed.

Same with the sabbaths—Paul said that although we are confident that all days are alike to the Lord, we can be broad-hearted enough to allow that another brother who observes special days does so with a desire to do what he thinks honours the Lord, just as we.

Paul didn't want the people in the church, who knew they were free, to kind of impose that freedom—like a new rule—making an issue out of it—on other church-members who still felt obligated. 

Since we’re free 𝘯𝘰𝘵 to, we’re free 𝘵𝘰 - for others’ sakes.

We don’t have to be so hard-nosed about some things.

That's what "endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace," meant.

It means, when you come across others who feel obligated in ways you know we're really free from, it’s noble to go along with it for their sakes—rather than make it a cause to divide and separate.   

True freedom doesn't make us hardlined to others—it makes us delight in being accomodating of others—of their conscience, and of their likes and dislikes. Even in matters where they're obviously not as assured in grace and freedom as we are.

We are the ones who get to do the bending—and loving it! 

"𝗙𝗼𝗿, 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗻, 𝘆𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆; 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗵, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿" (Galatians 5:13). 

This isn’t about condoning old pagan sinful behaviours. It’s about things which really don’t matter either way. Making room for others gladly—that's true grace, faith, freedom, servanthood, honour and love. 

God is joyful. He delights to flow with a person’s heart and inner counsels. He’s all that! We can delight in others just the same. 

This attitude which Paul lived by, and which he desired the congregation at Rome to adopt towards one another, wasn’t at all contradictory to Paul saying elsewhere (to the Galatians) that "...if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing". 

There was something different going on in Galatia. 

It can be all too easy to take words in one Bible-passage just as they might seem to us, un-studiously failing to grasp what was really going on in the passage. Then we would mistake what the words were intended to mean. 

And it would be just as easy to then impose what we assumed it meant onto others in other circumstances different to the circumstances which the Bible verse addresses.

People can become petulant and insistent about the stance they then take, feeling sure that they have a Bible verse as their basis, and that they have the Lord's honour to defend. 

But in so doing they can unfortunately find themselves opposing things in circumstances which God doesn’t; resisting certain things which God Himself is quite happy to go along with. They can then make it a cause to separate—ironically, all in the name of unity and grace.

(Whether the issue was statements made in the Bible about circumcising versus not to be circumcised; food laws; or the sabbath; or whether it's questions about verses mentioning women keeping silence in church versus women prophesying; tithing versus giving; the proper way to address a congregation with tongues and prophecy versus incidences of many speaking to God at once in tongues; verses about divorce and remarriage; questions of proper church structure and government; passages mentioning predestination and will; verses mentioning baptismal-regeneration versus credo-baptism; various verses about the name or formula for baptism; soul-sleep versus going to heaven when you die, prior to resurrection; and Bible-statements linking the coming of the Lord with first-century events versus His still-future second-coming, etc.)   

It’s possible to miss the heart of God towards people, and feel hostile towards things happening in meetings, all because we’ve taken a standalone statement in one passage of the Bible, in a grammatically correct way perhaps, yet not grasped what was really going on, and therefore missed its intended meaning, and then misapply it to other circumstances—and then we resist things which God might actually be okay with, all the while thinking we have a Scriptural basis for it, and that we have the Lord’s honour to defend.

But when a few of the disciples were like that once, Jesus told them they'd actually missed His purpose and heart altogether.

Fine, if what’s going on somewhere today is what was going on in Galatia: then we could say today what Paul said to the Galatians, if we say what he meant—but if what’s going on is more like what was going on at Rome, then our advice, and our stance, is to be totally different—more like what Paul asked of the congregation at Rome, given what was happening there.

There was an issue in Galatia, to do with people insisting on keeping the law, which Paul made a firm stand against, and he wouldn’t give place in subjection to certain people over that issue, no not for an hour. 

Yet there were other issues elsewhere, which also involved people feeling they still needed to do certain things, like people did who were under the law, where Paul instead urged stronger believers to bend and and to be the ones making allowances for others’ weakness and to not make a hard stance against it.

And there are other sentences by Paul and others, on other themes, in other passages, where we can similarly fail to grasp Paul and others, and end-up taking a hardline where Paul or others wouldn’t have.

It takes just a little patience to work-out what’s really going on in some passages, and to grasp what the advice given therefore really meant, and how it can or wasn’t meant to be applied. 

There is a ‘wisdom’ that's fleshly, even of a wrong spirit, as James said:

"𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗳𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝘀, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘆" (see James 3:15-17).

The fruit of the Spirit is love, gentleness, meekness...

How wonderful that the Holy Spirit is working in each of us to express God’s heart joyfully, compliantly, submissively, quietly, accommodatingly, patiently, with gentleness, and meekness, being easy to get on with, loving, inoffensive to God or men, willing to play along with children, colourful, easy-going, easy to talk to, and fun to be around even to people who don’t as yet know the freedom we know yet, pleasing all men—doing all things for the Lord’s sake, and for theirs.

The Lord's heart:

"𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗: 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁" (Psalm 37:4).

"𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱...𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗳𝗶𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗹" (Psalm 20:1,4).

"...𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁" (Psalm 18:35).

“𝗛𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝘂𝗽, 𝗻𝗼𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁.

𝗔 𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗺𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘅 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵…” (Isaiah 42:2,3).

"𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻, 𝘀𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺.

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲; 𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁" (Psalm 103:13,14).