For do I now seek to satisfy men or God? or do I seek to please men? If I were yet pleasing men, I were not Christ's bondman.
Paul has just pronounced a curse — twice — on anyone who preaches a different gospel, even an angel. Verse 10 comes right after: does a man who writes like that sound like someone chasing approval?
The accusation behind the question
Paul's opponents had built a case against him from his own practice. One commentator sets out the charge against Paul and his reply:
G C WillisThese false teachers had said, Paul is trying to persuade men to follow him by being all things to all men. (See 1 Cor. 9:22.) Paul answers, You may judge for yourselves. What am I doing now? Am I seeking to please you in this letter? Am I now seeking to please men, or God? They knew very well that Paul was not trying to please them, or to please any man.
Persuading God instead
If Paul is not out to win people over, what is he after? One writer contrasts what Paul aims at now with the zeal of his past:
Arthur PridhamHis whole life aimed at one thing: to show himself to God as a workman who did not need to be ashamed. But to persuade God of his faithfulness, as His messenger and witness, Paul had to stay close to the words of God. There had been a time when he persuaded men, and served the traditions of his ancestors with tireless zeal. Men were indeed his aim, but not their approval. He went after them like a fisherman after their souls. The net he fished with was not worldly wisdom, but the grace of God.
Blunt speech and the charge of unkindness
Blunt language about false teaching draws the complaint that it is unloving. One commentator meets that complaint head-on, and turns it around:
William KellyHe knew well that speaking this bluntly offended people. It even stirred up ill-will among real saints of God. Today the same thing would be called a lack of love. But speaking without compromise is not a lack of love. Judging those who do speak that way is.
That does not make harshness a habit. Another writer marks off exactly when Paul spoke this way:
W. W. FeredayNo one was more careful than he was not to wound anyone needlessly. No one was more patient with people who were slow to grow in the truth. But when the foundations of Christianity came under attack, the apostle forgot men and acted for Christ.
How to spot the man-pleaser
One writer points the verse at teachers who give people what they want to hear:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe preachers of a perverted gospel are marked by one thing: they cater to what people want. A time comes when people "will not endure sound teaching," and they "accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions" (2 Timothy 4:3). And Jude describes these "men-pleasers" as "loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage" (Jude 16).
The danger is not confined to those preaching error. One writer applies it to the preacher who draws crowds:
The Bible TreasuryA popular preacher loves and looks for a wide field of work and crowded audiences... But he should beware. This desire can become his trap, when service and religious fame take the place of Christ as his goal. Sadly, more than a few servants of Christ who were once respected have fallen asleep on the laurels of their religious reputation.
Not the opposite extreme
Refusing to please people can turn into something ugly. One writer holds the two sides of Paul's practice together:
H J VineSome try so hard not to be man-pleasers that they fall into the opposite evil. They become thoroughly unpleasant. The apostle sought to to "please everyone in everything" for their good (1 Corinthians 10:33). Still, when the truth was at stake, he wrote as bluntly as he does here. On one hand, his life and conduct aimed to commend him "to everyone's conscience" (2 Corinthians 4:2). On the other hand, he worked to be agreeable to God.
Summary
- One Master. Serving Christ and courting people are two different jobs. Taking the second means you have left the first.
- One aim. Paul once poured his zeal into persuading men. Now he stays close to the words of God, seeking God's approval instead of theirs.
- One exception. He would not wound anyone needlessly, and he was patient with slow learners. But when the foundations came under attack, he forgot men and acted for Christ.
- One test. Catering to what people want to hear marks the preacher of a false gospel. Wanting the crowd is the trap for the faithful one.
- One balance. Pleasing people for their good is right; pleasing them when truth is at stake is not. The dividing line is who you are trying to satisfy.