Week 1 in college football begins this weekend and I can’t wait to watch my App State Mountaineers take on UNC in Boone, North Carolina. Across the country, there will be many other entertaining matchups as most fans get a first glance at how their favorite teams look this year. Of all the sports, it’s fascinating how college football fans play such a big role in recruiting and coaches being fired, as well as, creating a home-field advantage and atmosphere that contributes to the perception of a program. (Many fans are also boosters and contribute financially, which increases their impact.) Because of this influence, the players, coaches, and administrations have the pressure to keep fans happy. When we aren’t happy, we are very vocal about it. Heading into another season, each fan base has expectations for how many games their team should win. If we’re honest, many fans are unrealistic and their standards are out of whack or they think the team should be as good as they were in previous years (or decades ago). An article on LaTimes.com has a headline that really jumped out to me: “How Many Wins Do USC and UCLA Need to Please Fans This Season?” That question sums up the impact fans have on college football programs (beyond USC and UCLA) as teams are pressured and expected to win enough to please the fans. They really care about us! The reality is that teams can never really win enough, can they? Even a team like Alabama that consistently wins championships, but doesn’t every year, won’t please their fans unless they win it all. Even teams that win a ton of games, but don’t win by a large enough margin, hear about it from the fans. Fans do have a voice, but ultimately when those players step on the field on Saturdays in the fall, I hope they're playing for much more of a purpose than pleasing the fans and gaining their approval. In our own lives, we also face a daily battle of whether or not we’re seeking the approval and applause of others. Is our motivation to please others? Do we feel the pressure to do whatever is necessary to keep people happy and live up to the expectations and standards they place on us? How much do we listen to the negative criticism and questioning that others have toward us? While we'll never please everyone, no matter how hard we try, as followers of Jesus, we should be living for a much greater purpose than to gain the approval of people and cater to their demands or out-of-whack standards. Our mindset ought to be that of the apostle Paul when he says in Galatians 1:10 (NLT), “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” Paul writes this about his ministry approach in 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NLT): “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.” The ESV translates Galatians 1:10 into these questions, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” How do we answer that question today? What are our motivations and desires? What does our life reveal about who we’re trying to please? Just like it’s a futile goal for college football players to try and please rabid and never satisfied fans like us, it’s also not worth it for us to live our lives trying to please anyone more than God. He is the One we live for as we respond to His extravagant love and grace for us. We do it without pressure or obligation, but rather with freedom and in a way that makes God happy and brings Him glory. I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that! PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please help me to stop worrying so much about what other people think or say about me. I desire to please You above all else. I want to be Christ’s servant and live a life that points people to You. Thank you for Your extravagant grace and love. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR PACKS:
When have you most recently felt pressure to live up to someone else's expectations and what was the result of that situation? How did it make you feel?
What is an area of your life where you need to be more concerned with pleasing God rather than pleasing others?
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