Fear God, Not Man

Here’s a question for you. Are you afraid of God or man? It’s a question we should all ask ourselves from time to time, especially when it comes to evangelism. We need to be more concerned about what God thinks of us rather than what people think about us.

In I Cor. 9, the apostle Paul says he uses whatever evangelism method works for the particular group of people he’s sharing with. Paul didn’t care if some think he’s strange, or sacreligious. He says, “I am free and I belong to no man.” In another passage he writes, “If I serve men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Don’t fear man. Respect, yes. Fear, no. It’s a tough command to follow, but so important! Sometimes it helps me to remember that no matter what others think of the way I’m presenting the Gospel, the Bible says that it’s priestly work. Yeah, priestly work!

Paul himself writes about “the priestly duty of proclaiming the Gospel.” I love that. So however you go about sharing the Good News, remember you are doing priestly work. Whatever your method, (as long as it is ethical) don’t worry about what the world says. As you replace your fear of man with a fear of God, you’ll be even more empowered to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ and that helps people everywhere.