Well, the best emails we get are questions that put concrete words to what otherwise floats in the back of our minds as a sort of an abstract question that we can't really put our finger on. Here's a question today about whether being popular and well-liked are crucial to our gospel witness, and it comes from a listener named Jacob.

"Pastor John, am I wrong if people around me don't like me? Does being unliked by others make me a bad representative of Christ? We can't be people pleasers all the time or we will be pushovers. And at what point has our seeking to be accepted by people compromised our faithfulness to God?" Pastor John, what would you say to Jacob?

I think what might be helpful to do in answer to Jacob's question is to illustrate for him how from Scriptures he might go about answering his own question. And I hope in doing it this way, really a hundred questions of this nature, and lots of natures, might be answered in the sense that people will realize that all John Piper does to get ready for these little 10-minute talks is to open my Bible and find some Scriptures that come close to relating to the issue and think about them and then put my thoughts down.

Frankly, I think most people who listen to APJ—that's a particular kind of people—could do this if they were encouraged actually to work at it. That's what I'm doing. I'm encouraging you. You could do this. You could have your own little APJ or APP or whatever. I'd like to empower you to do that.

So just watch now. First thing I did was to type the word "please" because we're talking about when is it right to please people, when is it not right to please people. I typed the word "please" into my Logos. You can have—there are a lot of different Bible programs out there.

I happen to use Logos. I typed it into my Bible computer search, and I told it to find all the places where "please" or "pleased" is used in Paul because I knew that a bunch of places in Paul that I couldn't think of where they were dealt with this very issue of sometimes pleasing people and sometimes not pleasing people.

And boop, there they come. A whole bunch of uses of "please," not all of them relevant. And I picked out the five that were relevant, and I isolated them, and I began to read them. And as I read them, I circled and I underlined and I emboldened words that seemed relevant for answering the question, "Now, when's it right to please people?

When's it wrong to please people?" Is Paul tipping me off in these verses as to when he does it and when he doesn't do it? And I assume Paul's not contradicting himself, and so here's what I'm going to do. I'm just going to read you these five verses and show you what I saw, because I think you could see it, and then you wouldn't have to write APJ.

So Galatians 1, verse 10. I mean, Tony, you know we are into empowering people to go to the Bible and find God and help there not be dependent on me. So here we go. Galatians 1, 10. Paul has just said some unbelievably harsh things about those who are bringing a different gospel.

He says, "If anyone," this is verse 9, "If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed, damned." Now those are not pleasing words to the false teachers, I dare say. Now should Paul worry about that? He has just displeased somebody big time.

My guess is lots of contemporary readers don't like it either. So he says in verse 10, "Am I trying to get the approval of man or God? Am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." So the least we can conclude from these words is that sometimes being a faithful servant of Christ when the gospel is being corrupted will require harsh words, and we should not let that stand in our way that these are displeasing to some people.

Number two, 1 Thessalonians 2, 3 through 6, here's what he says, "Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed, God is witness, nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others." Now, that seems to me to be really helpful because Paul mentions three things at least that he is trying to avoid in pleasing other people in the way he talks.

He's trying to avoid flattery, he's avoiding giving a pretext for greed, and he's avoiding trying to get glory from people. In other words, what Paul was opposed to here was trying to please people by buttering them up in the hope of getting money or getting praise and glory. So the key issue there in 1 Thessalonians 2 is not primarily whether somebody likes what you say or doesn't like it, the issue is are you self-serving or are you other-serving?

Are you manipulating the relationship to try to say what they want to hear because you want money or you want glory or you want something that they don't expect you to want given what you're saying? Here's the third text, Colossians 3:22, "Bond servants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as men-pleasers," not by way of eye service as men, people-pleasers, "but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord." So it seems to me that what Paul means by eye service is that the goal is really not—the goal of somebody who talks with eye service or acts with eye service is not to really go any deeper than what meets the eye, which is why Paul contrasts it with "sincerity of heart" and with "fearing the Lord." In other words, pleasing someone might be just fine if it was not insincere and if it didn't compromise fearing the Lord.

And just real quick, the two passages that say he does try to please people are 1 Corinthians 10, 31 to 33, goes like this, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, to all to the glory of God, give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many that they may be saved." And Romans 15, 1 and 2, "We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves, but let each of you please his neighbor for his good to build him up." So when Paul is trying to please others, he says five things about it that make it good.

One, "I'm not seeking my own advantage." Two, "I'm seeking their advantage." Three, "I'm trying to bring them to salvation." Four, "I'm seeking their good." Five, "I'm seeking to build them up," that is in faith and holiness. So summary, I think the answer to Jacob's question about when it's right, when it's wrong to please people would go something like this.

And all I'm doing now is trying to summarize. These don't come out of nowhere. I'm just trying to summarize what we've seen in those verses. If you are not motivated by flattery and not motivated by trying to manipulate people to get money for yourself or glory or praise for yourself, if you are not speaking or acting insincerely but in the fear of God, if you are seeking their advantage and their good and their salvation and their up-building, if all those things characterize your behavior and your speech, then yes, yes, yes, seek to please people.

Your effort to please them will be protected from sin and it will be used for righteousness and for the glory of God. Thank you, Pastor John. Well, there's the model for APJ. There's nothing to it. You can do it yourself if you want to try. There it is, the blueprint.

But if you still want to send emails to us, I would really appreciate it. You can send those our way from our online home. It's zaharangod.org/askpastorjohn. Well, one word you will not find in a Bible concordance is the word minimalism. Minimalism is part of the lingo of American culture right now and it's a trend in technological asceticism and simplified living in tiny houses, micro apartments, and streamlined wardrobes.

And of course, Pastor John has been for years calling Christians to a wartime lifestyle. So what's the difference between wartime living and minimalism living? Is there a difference? That's the question up on Friday. It's going to be a good one, I think. I'm your host, Tony Reike. Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast and we'll see you next time.

1. John R. Reike, The Godfather of the Bible. In his book, The Godfather, John John, the Godfather of the Bible, he says, "The Bible is a book of the Word. It is a book of the Word and a book of the Word." And the Word is a book of the Word.

And the Word is a book of the Word. And the Word is a book of the Word. And the Word is a book of the Word.