John 5.44 in the ESV says:
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
When you receive glory from other people you cannot at the same time believe and trust God. That’s what Jesus said and I believe Him! One of the reasons so many pastors are not stepping out in faith and doing what God has called them to do is that they like the glory they get from other men. I would say this – either you are listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, or you are listening to the glory coming from other men.
We want to be admired in society, we want to be respected, to be honoured (which is the word the KJV uses). We are often bound by the glory given to us by other men which stops us believing God and walking in God’s plan for our life. We should only be receiving our glory by doing what God tells us to do.
One of the things that makes the life of Jesus stand out so much is that He did not receive the glory from men. He never did something to make someone like Him more, to make someone respect Him, to make someone admire Him. That never moved Him! We must be the same as pastors and leaders. We must be immune to the praises of men, and only be looking to be praised by the Father!
You cannot flow with God and still be looking for respect and honour from people! The glory of men still makes many people do things that are against God’s Word. We want qualifications so we go to godless universities rather than spend time listening to God and doing what He calls us to do. We choose schools for our children, drive cars, buy houses, eat at certain places and wear certain clothes so that other people admire us and give us glory. We do so much to get credit and praise from other men. This is the truth.
Every big decision you will make as a pastor will boil down eventually to this: will I make the choice that makes men admire us and give us glory, or will we do what makes God admire us and give us glory? That is the crux of every big decision a pastor makes. Or any Christian, but it is vital for those feeding the flock!
I have just seen a couple throw their destiny in the bin because they could not do anything that did not bring them glory from other people. It was very sad. We have to not be like that, we have to only seek glory from God – what will make God admire and respect us – choose that and do that.
Selah.
Inspiring and Challenging Dreamers 