As unto the Lord or unto men?

I have been thinking a lot about why we do what we do.

And if we are honest with ourselves there is an inordinate amount of time, energy, worrying, guessing and second-guessing that takes place in many of our lives about what other people think about us. We pick our clothes, our words, our philosophies, our churches, our foods and so much more based on what we think others will think!

What a dangerous preoccupation it is to think that somehow what I think you think about me should affect so much of my life.

A famous philosopher once said: “Know thyself” and if we take the time to do exactly that, would we notice and admit that even our attitude and at times our thoughts are predicated upon what we think others expect us to say, do or be?

Scripture reminds us that we are to live our lives as unto the Lord and not unto men and Paul spent some time referencing what he would have to do differently if he were seeking to please men (see Galatians 1). Many of us on the other hand can think of a list of things right off the bat that we would have to do differently if we were seeking only to please God.

Some of the immediate results of seeking to please God might be that we would pray more and look at cultural trends a bit less. We might also begin to live based on the Word of God and God’s revelations to us instead of cowering in fear based on how others might respond.

I believe that Jesus was so confident in who He was, what He was called to do, what His Father had spoken to Him and His trust in God to work it all out, that He was really free to live. He was free to speak and laugh and make decisions and plan His ministry and give an answer or respond to a circumstance without having to wonder what the ‘fall-out’ might be or how it might look on His resume’ or what people might say about Him behind His back (because they did say a number of things both behind His back and to His face).

How would you live your life different if your only care was to do the will of God? What things would you start doing and what things would you stop if it didn’t matter what anyone else thought? Are you really living as unto the Lord or unto men?