The Path to Honor, the Path to Disgrace

What is the path to honor?

We don’t have to look far in our society to find those who have achieved considerable earthly honor through their hard work combined with their self-promotion. Whether in business, in politics, in sports and entertainment – and even within the Christian church – we see example after example of people working on their craft, marketing themselves, and thereby acquiring some degree of fame. There are many coaches, consultants, and schools who – for a fee – will teach you how to be among those who successfully exalt themselves.

But Scripture warns us, “God opposes the proud” (1 Peter 5:7); “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled” (Luke 14:11).

Yet God’s Word also gives us a promise in these same verses: God gives grace to the humble; he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Jesus tells a brief story to illustrate this point:

Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. (Luke 14:31-32)

You are the first king. You have resources: Your physical abilities, your intelligence, your training and education, your experience, your skills, your contacts, your finances. Perhaps these are quite impressive compared to others. Like the first king with ten thousand, you can look at who you are and what you have and think: “I can go somewhere! I can exalt myself! I can achieve something!”

If you take the world’s advice and exalt yourself, you may well achieve a degree of honor for a time. Perhaps in a worldly sense you will acquire considerable fame because of great accomplishments.

Yet whether you realize it or not, by acting in this way you are advancing in war against the second king. And that second king is God Himself. For you are acting in pride – and as we saw, God opposes the proud. Furthermore, His fighting force is far beyond yours. If He opposes you, you will be humbled; you will be thrown down; in the end, you will lose all the fame, all the status, all the honor that you thought you had gained.

So like that first king going out to war, you have two options. The first option is to sue for peace. He will demand unconditional surrender to Jesus. This means that you will have to renounce all that you have (Luke 14:33). All that is yours becomes His: All your goods. All your family. All your time.

However, He then will give you His grace. He will exalt you. He will give you Jesus Himself – the greatest treasure, the greatest honor, the greatest joy.

That’s the first option. The cost is high. But the benefit is incalculable.

Your second option is to enter into battle with Him. To fight Him. To oppose Him.

If you choose option two, you will hold onto your fame and your resources a little longer compared to option one. While the battle is engaged, you can continue to be impressed with yourself. But your 10,000 cannot fight His hordes. The end is inevitable. He will overwhelm you. He will humble you. Option two is the path to disgrace. One day you will lose everything. And you will have to confess what you refused to acknowledge before: Jesus is indeed Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).

So note: Whether you choose option one or option two, eventually you lose all that you now have. That cost is the same.

But under option one, He exalts you. He lifts you up. He gives you what you never earned, what you clearly don’t deserve, what you can never be proud of: one hundred times more joy than you had from what you gave up, as well as the greatest gift of all: Himself, for all eternity (Mark 10:28-31).

So acknowledge what is true. Realize your position. You have no ability to achieve any lasting honor; if you resist Him, you will lose all. Humble yourself under God’s mighty hand. This is the path to honor. And the greatest honor is that He will give you what you could never earn: Himself.

Do Our Actions Please God?

How can you please God?

Can you please Him by working on His behalf?

We often think: If we would just witness more (or more effectively); if we would just give more to the church, or attend services more regularly, or pray more, or help the poor more diligently then God would be pleased with us.

Is that right?

Consider what Jesus said to His disciples after interacting with the Samaritan woman, telling her He was the longed-for Messiah: “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34).

Jesus has quoted Deuteronomy previously, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Jesus loves the word of His Father. He delights to do His will. He finds sustenance and satisfaction and fulfillment in accomplishing the Father’s plan. So, in this particular case, He found joy and sustenance from seeing this woman whose life was a wreck come to saving faith as He shared the Good News of the coming of the promised Christ.

So Jesus found joy in following God. Surely we too should find joy in following Him.

But what about the flip side of that truth? Does our activity, our accomplishment, our obedience please God?

We have to be careful here. Scripture makes some subtle but vital distinctions in this area. Consider, for example, Psalm 147:10-11:

His delight is not in the strength of the horse,
nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,
but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.

We never impress God. However strong we may be, however great our accomplishments might appear, God doesn’t jump up and down, saying, “Awesome! I’m so happy you did that! Do it again! Show me what you can do!”

Instead, what gives God pleasure? He rejoices in our dependence on Him, in our acknowledgment of His power and authority, in our trusting in His love for us and commitment to us.

Furthermore, consider 1 Thessalonians 4:3: “This is the will of God, your sanctification.” That is, God’s will is for you to be made holy. For you to be set apart for Him. For you to be like Him, like Christ.

So putting these biblical thoughts together: We, like Jesus, delight to do God’s will and to accomplish His work. But God’s work and God’s will include not only actions on our part, but also our becoming like Jesus: Having patience, love, kindness, devotion, endurance, gentleness, piety, and self-control. So He desires us to become like Jesus – and for us to help others to become like Jesus. That never happens through our own strength, through our own will-power, through “the strength of a horse” or “the legs of a man.” No. That only happens as we devour His Word, as we depend on His grace, as we submit to His wisdom, as we rejoice in His love. Activity in and of itself does not honor Him. Becoming Christlike and acting Christlike honor Him.

So, no, in and of itself working on God’s behalf does not please Him. He takes no delight in my puny strength, my puny abilities, my puny accomplishments.

But God takes great joy in our fulfilling His purposes for us – as we become more like Jesus inside and outside, in thoughts and attitudes as well as in words and deeds.

So by all means witness – out of the overflow of your joy in Christ. Give generously – knowing all you have is a grant from God to be used for His glory. Worship corporately – in spirit and in truth. Help the poor – with the compassion of Christ for the glory of Christ. Become like Jesus – and act like Him. This is how you can please God.