THE PRAISE OF MEN

One of the most basic motivating forces in man’s make-up is the desire to be accepted by his fellow man. Man wants to be liked, even to be praised by his peers. This drive will cause a man to do all kinds of things, both good and bad. This fact is evident in every phase of life. It is this concept that sets the style of clothes. It is this fact that enables a song to become popular. Men will go to great lengths to keep up with his neighbor socially, economically, and even religiously.

Yes, it is a sad fact that this drive comes to bear in our religious life. Men base their religion on whether or not it will gain for them the praise of men. Religion also becomes popular. In the day of Jesus there was an accepted religion. It was the Pharisees who set the standard of religion. They ruled and dominated it. People would even deny an evident fact in order not to stir up the ire of the Pharisees. They would even deny their belief in Jesus Christ in order to keep their place in the synagogue.

This is true in every party of religion of today. All the people of any one group have a desire to conform to the set standard. The very life of denominational-ism is sustained by this concept of human nature. It rests upon man’s tendency to conform to a set pattern for the sake of pleasing men.

The shocking thing, however, is that this concept does not have a place in the religion of Jesus Christ. Actually, one has to be a nonconformist in order to follow Jesus Christ; that is, not conforming to the commandments and traditions of men. After all, it is only selfishness to desire the praise of men, and this is the very thing that we must deny in order to follow Jesus. We must seek only His glory. We must also realize that that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination to God.

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