We all enjoy receiving applause. It can come in many different forms, and it always makes us feel affirmed, valued, and appreciated. At face value it seems harmless enough, but behind the applause lurks a fierce enemy. Like all sin, pride sneaks into our lives, very discretely, so it doesn’t attract our attention or raise any concern. Then, it permeates its way into our heart and mind, like yeast through dough, until how we live our lives becomes shaped by our longing to hear applause from all kinds of worldly sources and not from the one source that actually matters, the applause from the hands of our Savior. When this worldly affirmation becomes something we strive for, we tie our identity to those sources and then wonder why we have lost a sense of who we really are.
In this specific Scripture passage, Paul and Barnabas teach us an important lesson in handling excessive worldly affirmation. The citizens of Lystra were ready to make sacrifices and have a huge feast for these two after seeing Paul perform a miracle. They were convinced Zeus and Hermes themselves came to visit them that day. It sure would have been easy for Paul and Barnabas to accept the gifts and let the people tell them how great they were. God had just used them in an incredible way. They must be great men…I mean, these kinds of things don’t just happen to anyone. They must, at the very least, be above average men, right? Wrong. Paul pleads with them to stop. He lets them know that they are only human and no greater than anyone else in Lystra. Also, he tells them that nothing that the people of Lystra could offer them that is of this world could fill them like God can. All the glory needs to be given to the one true, living God.
Then, something completely unexpected happens. That same day, many of the people who were just praising these two men, take Paul outside of the city, stone him, and leave him for dead. Quite a plot twist, right? What’s crazy is, we see this happen quite often in the world today, just not so severe. Example: a quarterback might win multiple Super Bowls with a team, but if that same QB has one bad season, the fans start calling for the backup QB. You see, the praise of people will come and go (this is not a matter of if, it’s when). When you put your identity in praise and affirmation of others, it can ruin you when that all gets taken away. But when you seek fulfill the plan God has for you and want to please God in all you do, God will always delight that obedience and faith. We can always count on Him because He will never leave us or forsake us. He loves us more than anyone on this earth, and He will fill us better and more completely than anything else can.
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ - Galatians 1:10
