How Do I Put Away My Desire for Praise?
00:00:00.000 | [Music]
00:00:04.200 | "Gottes Ehre ist dort am größten, wo unsere Zufriedenheit in ihm am größten ist."
00:00:11.000 | God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.
00:00:15.500 | That's what you just heard in German from our friend Alex.
00:00:19.200 | Alex is bringing Desiring God's Resources to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
00:00:23.800 | It's an amazing reach.
00:00:25.800 | And you'll hear what he's working on here in just a moment.
00:00:29.100 | But first, on to this day after Christmas.
00:00:32.400 | Pastor John, we have a question from Hope, a listener who wants to know
00:00:36.900 | how we should get praised rightly.
00:00:39.800 | It's a great question. Here it is. Pastor John, hello.
00:00:41.800 | My question focuses on my struggle with needing to feel important by those in my church body.
00:00:47.600 | The Bible teaches that we should seek approval from God, not from man.
00:00:52.400 | That's Galatians 1.10.
00:00:54.300 | It also teaches that we should encourage one another in spirit, 1 Thessalonians 5.11,
00:00:59.300 | and praise those who fear the Lord, that's Proverbs 31.30.
00:01:03.500 | I feel a strong desire within myself to hear words of affirmation from my ministry
00:01:08.100 | to feel loved, valued, regarded, and needed.
00:01:12.800 | But these desires don't feel holy.
00:01:15.000 | It feels like a need to be seen rather than humbly giving Jesus a spotlight.
00:01:19.500 | How do I begin to put to death my need for recognition and cultivate a spirit of humble servitude?
00:01:27.400 | Can we distinguish between need for man's approval and desiring brotherly encouragement?
00:01:34.100 | Pastor John, what would you say to Hope?
00:01:36.100 | One of the benefits of this question is that it gives us a chance to lay out some of the paradoxes
00:01:44.400 | of Scripture that people sometimes stumble over, which I think is what's happening
00:01:48.500 | in this question.
00:01:50.000 | And then I think we can see a single key that I think goes a long way to navigating these paradoxes
00:02:02.300 | without being double-minded or contradicting ourselves.
00:02:06.800 | So here are four of the paradoxes I'm talking about, and what I mean by paradox,
00:02:14.300 | in case anybody wonders, "What are you talking about, paradox?"
00:02:17.900 | What I mean by paradox is that two things—in this case, two things in the Bible—sound
00:02:24.700 | like they don't fit together, like they might be contradictory, but they really aren't
00:02:31.100 | contradictory.
00:02:32.100 | They really do fit together if we just had the key to unlock the pathway that honors
00:02:39.300 | both sides of the paradox.
00:02:41.700 | So here's four examples quickly from the Bible.
00:02:46.100 | First, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by
00:02:53.700 | them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven."
00:02:58.300 | Paradox on the other side, Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine that others may see your
00:03:05.700 | good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."
00:03:09.100 | Shall we want to be seen or not want to be seen?
00:03:13.100 | Number two, Galatians 1:10, "Am I now seeking the approval of man or of God, or am I trying
00:03:19.500 | to please man?
00:03:20.500 | If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ."
00:03:27.100 | 1 Corinthians 10:33, "I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage
00:03:34.700 | but that of many that they may be saved."
00:03:36.900 | Well, Paul, do we try to please people or do we not care about pleasing people?
00:03:43.100 | Number three, Proverbs 22:1, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
00:03:51.700 | and favor is better than silver or gold."
00:03:55.900 | Or Luke 6:26, "Woe to you when people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the
00:04:04.100 | prophets."
00:04:05.100 | Well, do we seek a good reputation or should we beware of it?
00:04:09.700 | Number four, Proverbs 31:30, "A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised by people."
00:04:18.900 | Romans 2:29, "A true Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart
00:04:25.780 | by the Spirit, not the letter.
00:04:27.380 | His praise is not from people but from God."
00:04:32.100 | Well, should we be glad when we're praised by man or should we consider that a dangerous
00:04:37.980 | sign?
00:04:39.980 | So here they are again, these four paradoxes, and we're trying to steer a way through them
00:04:46.980 | that honors the intention on both sides.
00:04:49.980 | One, desiring that your good works be seen or desiring that they not be seen.
00:04:55.700 | Two, aiming to please people or indifference to pleasing people.
00:05:00.100 | Three, desiring a good reputation or being indifferent to our reputation.
00:05:05.700 | Glad when we are praised for some good or concerned that that gladness might be a signal
00:05:10.820 | of sin in us.
00:05:12.140 | Now, I think there is a key to navigating these paradoxes, a key that keeps us from
00:05:18.420 | rejecting the truth of either side of the paradox.
00:05:23.020 | And that key is experiencing such a change of our natural pride and selfishness that
00:05:34.220 | God himself, all that he is for us in Christ, that God himself becomes our supremely enjoyed,
00:05:45.540 | supremely treasured Savior, King, and Shepherd, and Father, and Friend.
00:05:52.580 | Or to say it another way, when God is treasured more than the sinful possibilities of either
00:05:59.540 | side of these paradoxes, we will be protected from that sin and led in the right use of
00:06:09.420 | both sides of the paradoxes.
00:06:12.980 | For example, if God is supremely satisfying to us, then we won't crave the ego satisfaction
00:06:21.380 | of being seen for our good works.
00:06:25.340 | God is our greatest reward, not the praise of man.
00:06:28.980 | And if we think rightly that some good deed should be seen by others, then that will be
00:06:37.700 | motivated not for our praise, but so that others can see that these deeds flowed from
00:06:46.220 | a heart satisfied in God.
00:06:49.820 | God will be glorified because we were so satisfied in him that the joy of knowing him overflowed
00:06:56.420 | in generosity.
00:06:57.420 | That's spelled out in 2 Corinthians 8 verse 2.
00:07:02.220 | Or what about pleasing people?
00:07:04.580 | Paul said he doesn't do it, and he said he does do it.
00:07:08.500 | Now, I think what he means is this.
00:07:11.540 | When people-pleasing is a way of manipulating a situation to satisfy your craving for human
00:07:18.260 | approval, you're sending a message that God is not your treasure, human approval is your
00:07:25.260 | treasure.
00:07:26.260 | That's the message you send.
00:07:28.180 | But on the other hand, if you go through life or pursue your ministry thumbing your nose
00:07:36.020 | at other people's feelings and hopes and expectations with no concern at all about how other people
00:07:42.820 | may be offended by what you do or say or how many unnecessary stumbling blocks you put
00:07:48.200 | in the way of the gospel, then you're sending the message that it's not God's mercy and
00:07:55.140 | patience that has satisfied your soul, making you eager to win people rather than push people
00:08:01.860 | away.
00:08:02.860 | You're just on an ego trip of exalting yourself.
00:08:07.180 | God is not in you creating the loving desire to draw people into the sweetness of your
00:08:13.860 | walk with him.
00:08:16.260 | Or what about caring about a good reputation or the danger of others speaking well of us?
00:08:24.920 | If we are living to magnify the worth of God by being satisfied in him, then we will sense
00:08:32.520 | the difference between wanting a good reputation for ego gratification or for getting rich
00:08:40.500 | versus a good reputation for the sake of showing the all-sufficiency of God in our lives.
00:08:48.880 | We will sense the difference between cowardly avoidance of people's criticism on the one
00:08:55.300 | hand and courageous willingness to live and speak in a way that brings down their approach
00:09:02.420 | of unbelievers on the other hand.
00:09:04.960 | And the key in both cases will be the condition of our own hearts.
00:09:11.900 | Is God the supreme treasure, or am I just pushing him aside because of how good it feels
00:09:19.660 | to have a good reputation and less criticism because of my biblical Christian?
00:09:26.820 | And finally, what about receiving worthy praise, like the woman in Proverbs 31 who fears the
00:09:34.860 | Lord versus living for the praise of man rather than the praise of God in Romans 2.29?
00:09:43.740 | And I think the key again is this.
00:09:46.260 | When it says she fears the Lord, what that means is that she fears treasuring anything
00:09:54.880 | in this world more than God.
00:09:58.460 | God has become her greatest treasure, her greatest joy, and the only fearful thing in
00:10:05.580 | the presence of such a God is insulting him by treasuring anything above him.
00:10:14.200 | So when the woman is praised for her fear of God, it's God who's being praised, God
00:10:22.940 | himself who is praised overall.
00:10:27.340 | That's not something to be rejected.
00:10:30.300 | The difference between that and Romans 2.29 is that Romans 2.29 underlines the fact that
00:10:40.340 | if there's something in us that is praiseworthy about God, what matters most is that God see
00:10:46.780 | it and that God approve of it, not that man see it and approve of it.
00:10:54.140 | Above all, we want God to be pleased that he is supremely pleasing to us.
00:11:03.660 | If man finds this worthy of praise, so be it.
00:11:08.980 | That's good, but it is quite secondary to God's approval.
00:11:14.760 | So my answer to the question we were asked, "How do I put to death my need for recognition
00:11:23.480 | and cultivate a spirit of humble servitude?" is this.
00:11:28.660 | Devote the rest of your life to knowing God and all that he is for you in Christ, and
00:11:37.900 | seek to be supremely satisfied in him.
00:11:43.580 | Amen.
00:11:44.580 | Thank you, Pastor John.
00:11:45.900 | This conversation is relevant to social media, too.
00:11:48.660 | It reminds me of an episode we did on Instagramming our Good Works, APJ 1151.
00:11:53.220 | You can find that in the archive.
00:11:55.140 | APJ 1151, good stuff.
00:11:57.660 | Well, it takes a team to bring Desiring God resources to the world and to reach non-English
00:12:03.340 | speakers, and that includes Alex laboring in the German-speaking world.
00:12:07.320 | You heard his voice at the very top of this episode, and we asked him for an update on
00:12:11.720 | his work.
00:12:12.720 | Here's what he shared.
00:12:14.460 | My name is Alex Reindl, and I am from Austria.
00:12:17.020 | I'm with Evangelium 21, which is a gospel network for the German-speaking world, for
00:12:23.580 | Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
00:12:25.460 | And our aim, our mission is to strengthen the local church, and we do that by setting
00:12:30.860 | up conferences, teaching, and by running a website.
00:12:34.580 | And the second thing I'm involved in is Verbum Median, which is a publisher that is also
00:12:41.300 | focusing on strengthening the local church through publishing books, e-books, and audio
00:12:46.300 | books.
00:12:47.360 | So the most unique thing I would say about the Desiring God resources that we have, and
00:12:52.980 | what I really, we really appreciate about the emphasis is that the Christian endeavor
00:12:59.660 | is supposed to be a joyful one.
00:13:02.640 | And for many German-speaking Christians, Christian walk and a Christian faith would rather be
00:13:08.820 | something with a grinchy, grumpy face, something that we just have to run through and fight
00:13:15.580 | through it.
00:13:16.580 | And we understand that's part of it.
00:13:18.340 | It is not a, you know, very romantic walking on the beach kind of thing.
00:13:23.420 | But what is so clear in Scripture, and John Piper and Desiring God have been made so clear,
00:13:29.020 | is that God is aiming at our heart to be joyful in Him.
00:13:33.620 | And we loved it.
00:13:35.020 | And that has been super helpful for our context.
00:13:37.860 | The folks at Desiring God have been so encouraging in helping us grow for the German-speaking
00:13:45.620 | market and language.
00:13:47.260 | So we always feel appreciated and strengthened in what we do.
00:13:52.140 | And they come along that endeavor and just not try to push anything onto us or push any
00:13:59.500 | agenda.
00:14:00.500 | They are trying to be super helpful.
00:14:03.460 | And also on a very personal level, I've experienced a lot of coaching and mentoring over the last
00:14:09.460 | few years, just on, you know, how to approach things, how to be patient in many aspects,
00:14:15.980 | where there is a small market, a very small number of Christians, and you need to be patient.
00:14:21.820 | And Desiring God guys have been, few names come to mind that have been so involved in
00:14:27.460 | our lives, in my life, and I'm super grateful for.
00:14:31.060 | You look at, if the numbers are correct, maybe 2% evangelicals in Germany, about 3 to 4%
00:14:37.660 | in Switzerland, and less than 0.5% in Austria, which is heartbreaking for somebody who lives
00:14:45.780 | there and serves there.
00:14:47.220 | And we are praying that the upcoming years would be a time where God uses us and many
00:14:53.820 | others to bring forward the new Reformation, to do what God has done 500 years ago, to
00:15:00.700 | gather people around His Word and just bring glory to Himself by a growing and healthy
00:15:07.500 | church.
00:15:08.500 | And we are excited about what's to come, and so thankful for the opportunities we have
00:15:13.740 | to serve together.
00:15:14.740 | So, one of the things that amazes me is the fact that we are part of a global gospel movement,
00:15:22.540 | and that so many people can be a part of it by doing what we do, what I do, or by joining
00:15:28.780 | the mission, by supporting, by giving, by praying.
00:15:34.020 | And I am so thankful for you who is joining that endeavor.
00:15:38.900 | So thank you for being a part of what we do in the German-speaking world and so many others
00:15:44.300 | all over the globe.
00:15:45.660 | A new Reformation.
00:15:46.660 | Amen.
00:15:47.660 | Thank you, Alex, for your faithful labors in this direction and with this hope.
00:15:52.900 | If you're already a ministry partner with Desiring God, you're in this global gospel
00:15:57.220 | movement already, making possible everything that you just heard about.
00:16:01.140 | And so thank you for your partnership and the fruit of it that we heard about today.
00:16:05.620 | And if you're not yet a partner and you want to join in what's happening through Desiring
00:16:10.140 | God in the English-speaking world and how that overflows into Alex's world to reach
00:16:14.960 | the German-speaking world, you can join us today.
00:16:18.820 | Become a monthly ministry partner with us.
00:16:21.380 | Much of our financial support comes from friends of ours who give, on average, $30 a month
00:16:27.020 | to support all this work.
00:16:28.900 | To set up monthly giving, go to give.desiringgod.org.
00:16:33.820 | That's give.desiringgod.org.
00:16:38.140 | Hugely appreciated on behalf of all of us at Desiring God.
00:16:41.900 | And Pastor John, thank you for your support and partnership.
00:16:46.020 | We'll see you back here on Wednesday.
00:16:48.180 | [END]
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