Today's question is from an international listener. Dear Pastor John, I am Jera from the Philippines. I always wonder if minding people's opinion about me is a good or bad thing. The more I think about it, the more confused I get. On one hand, I want to be thought of well by outsiders (1 Timothy 3.7).

At the same time, I do not want to be paralyzed if others think I am a fool for following Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 1-3). And even to the extent of being considered, like Paul, the scum of the world (1 Corinthians 4.13). So, how do we think about our self-image in the eyes of the world?

I think the answer is that we should not go out of our way to offend the world unnecessarily, and we should not be afraid of offending the world when necessary, and we should put the emphasis on proactive good deeds that in general the world will find it hard to disapprove of.

That's my general answer, but far more important than my general answer are the specificities of the Bible. So let me do a quick little Bible avalanche. First, concerning the importance of not giving offense to the world, but wanting rightly to be respected by the world, and then texts concerning the importance of believing and saying and doing things that do in fact offend the world, and we know they will offend the world because the Bible says they will, and not wanting their godless approval.

Who needs the godless approval of the world? So those two groups of texts are very much in tension, so here they are, and we need to hear them both. Proverbs 22.1, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold." We should want a good name in the community.

Matthew 5.16, "Let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven." First Corinthians 14.23, "If therefore the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and an outsider, an unbeliever, enters in, won't they say, 'You're out of your mind?'" The Bible is quite concerned that they not think you're out of your mind, so that relates.

First Peter 2.12, "Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evil doers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation." First Peter 2.15, "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people." First Corinthians 10.32, "Give no offense to Jews or Greeks or 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." First Timothy 3.7, about the elders, "The candidate for elder must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace or into the snare of the devil." One more, "Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to what is honorable in the sight of all." So, I infer from that little avalanche of texts that those passages do not want us to relish giving offense to people outside.

We should seek to avoid giving offense if we can. We're trying to win people, for goodness sakes, not drive them away. We want people to be saved, not just offended at how right we are. However, then we read these, another little avalanche here. This is Galatians 1.10, "For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God?

Or am I trying to please men? If I were trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." Never rank the approval of man above the truth and righteousness of the gospels. Acts 4, Acts 4.19, "But Peter and John answered them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you judge, for we cannot but speak what we have seen and heard.'" In other words, what you will think of us for preaching and living the gospel does not guide our decisions.

Matthew 10.25, "It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher and the servant like his master. If they called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household?" In other words, expect it. If you follow me, you're going to be maligned, not respected.

Matthew 10.22, "You will be hated by all for my name's sake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved." Expect hatred, vast hatred, for your following me. First Peter 4.4, "With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you." It's especially interesting because Peter is writing this book to try to help wives win husbands and people win neighbors.

Here he says, "There are behaviors you're not going to do anymore. When you don't do them anymore, they're going to make big-time fun of you and malign you, and you don't do them anyway." He didn't compromise the holiness of life, even though holiness of life made unbelievers very offended and made them malign Christians.

A lot of people don't get that today. They think if somebody is criticizing your lifestyle, then you better adjust your lifestyle so you don't create criticism. That's not going to fit First Peter 4.4. Or one more, 1 Corinthians 1.22, "Jews demand signs. Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God." In other words, we know that when we preach the gospel, Paul says Jews are going to stumble over it and Gentiles are going to think it's stupid, and so preach it.

So preach it. Of course, when the Holy Spirit's at work and revival is happening, God overcomes those kind of reactions. So my conclusion is this. We do care about what outsiders think. We own up to that first little avalanche of text. We would like to find favor when we speak with them.

We have words of life, words of joy, words of everlasting satisfaction. We would like for them to believe and be with us in the age to come, no matter how bad they've ever been or what they've ever done to us. Christians want people to be saved, to become brothers and sisters.

But clearly, from the Scriptures, we do not compromise the truth of Scripture in order to curry the favor of the world, nor do we compromise the holiness of life that we're called upon to live in order to get the favor of the world. Rather, we put all of the emphasis—and I think this is the note that probably needs to be struck today, when people wonder, "Well, what are you supposed to do then?" Put all the emphasis on aggressively positive doing of good deeds that, in general, the world has a hard time disapproving of.

And if the Holy Spirit is pleased to move them, they will see our good deeds and give glory to our Father in heaven. Amen. Amen. That is wise and balanced counsel, Pastor John. Thank you. And thank you for the perceptive question, Jarrah. Appreciate it. Well, the refugee crisis is in the news right now, and a listener wants to know, "How should we map this crisis onto what we read in the Bible?" John Piper will be back to explain on Monday.

I'm your host, Tony Reinke. For more on this podcast, visit us at DesiringGod.org/AskPastorJohn. Have a wonderful, restful, and worship-filled weekend. See you on Monday. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.