Afterwords -- whose glory?
"How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?"
"...for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God."
"When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you...'" (John 5:44; 12:43; 17:1 ESV)
October 20, 2023
Dear friends,
During World War II, supply convoys crossing the Atlantic to England would face danger from many enemy submarines. In a novel I recently read, the captain of a Navy destroyer had depleted his supply of depth charges, and he pondered the issue of breaking radio silence to call for help:
"The personal factor must be entirely disregarded. How Washington and London would be affected in their opinion of him must not influence him at all. It was his duty to think only about the convoy, about fighting the war. He must not spend a moment worrying lest he be thought of as an officer who went crying for help without sufficient justification. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches; his good name, like his life, was at the service of his country. Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west -- what did he care about promotion? There is no discharge in that war. The Bible texts bobbed up in his mind as he tried to think. He could not ignore them." (The Good Shepherd, C. S. Forester, 1954)
Even in such desperation the captain was thinking about his reputation. Both in the movie Greyhound (Sony Pictures, featuring Tom Hanks), and especially in the book by C. S. Forester, The Good Shepherd (1954), we are shown just how important it is for duty to take precedence over the opinion of others. (I recommend both the book and the movie.)
In the gospel of John, the principle of seeking approval and honor -- and where we seek it -- runs throughout the book. The term "glory" (Gr., δόξα doxa) means "fame, renown, honor, prestige." It designates that which makes someone remarkable and worthy of esteem. To "glorify" (Gr., δοξάζω doxazō) means to honor, magnify, or celebrate someone we hold in high esteem. There are at least four dimensions we should think about: First, the glory (excellence, honor, inherent worth) that belongs intrinsically to God alone; secondly, the glory (honor, approval) that God gives to those who seek him; thirdly, the glory of humankind (often synonymous with "pride"); and fourthly, the honor, praise, and esteem that people give to and receive from one another. The believer is to be concerned primarily with the first two. Sadly, most of us are concerned primarily with the latter two.
This problem runs deep within us. We are often plagued by what other people think about us. We are concerned with having the approval of others whom we admire. We want to fit in with the rich and beautiful. Why do we give such immense weight to the opinions of the influential, the powerful, or the highly educated?
Our Lord Jesus shines forth in the gospels as One who sought the glory and approval of his Father, rather than that from the religious experts around him.
Jesus said, "How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" (John 5:44)
To live for the approval of others renders us unable to come to faith in Christ, because it means we must turn our attention (and trust) from opinions of fallible humans to the only opinion that matters, which is God's. Faith changes our focus from the fleeting vanity of man to the full weight of glory found in God alone.
The principle seems to be this: seek God's glory and God will glorify you with himself. Seek the glory and praise of man, and even if you receive it, it will soon pass away.
As a believer of many years, I still find this to be a daily struggle. There have been far too many times when I have acted with at least one eye on what other people thought, or would think, about me, rather than being concerned that God receive his due honor.
If my main goal is to get others to like me, or be impressed with me, then I'm not seeking the glory of God. If the values and opinions of a godless society are more important to me than God's truth, then I'm not seeking the glory of God. If I'm crushed by others' neglect of me, or by their bad opinion of me, then I'm not seeking the glory of God.
Daily we should be asking ourselves... Whose attention do we crave? Whose honor is most important to us? Whose opinion should we value most? How much weight are we giving to other people's opinions? Whose glory do we really want to promote?
MISCELLANEOUS.
-- Here are Martyn Lloyd-Jones' sermons on John 5:44 (above), "How Can You Believe" and "The Condition of Man."
-- "The conviction that every human is made in God’s image stood in stark contradiction to the culture of the ancient world." (Sharon James). Read "5 Ways the World Would Be Worse without Christianity."
-- Watch "Evolution: Bacteria to Beethoven" by Stephen Meyer.
-- Our Monday night men's group is studying Romans 8. Reminded me of this post -- how can we see the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
-- As we continue to downsize, I'm seeing the wisdom of using bankers boxes, promoted here and here.
-- News sources I follow: The Dispatch, 1440, and I have just added Cardinal News for daily updates. Commentary and journals I read: City Journal, First Things, and Public Discourse.
FINAL QUOTE.
"The sciences have two extremes which meet. The first is the pure natural ignorance in which all men find themselves at birth. The other extreme is that reached by great intellects, who, having run through all that men can know, find they know nothing, and come back again to that same ignorance from which they set out; but this is a learned ignorance which is conscious of itself. Those between the two, who have departed from natural ignorance and not been able to reach the other, have some smattering of this vain knowledge, and pretend to be wise. These trouble the world and are bad judges of everything." (Pascal, Pensées, 327)
That's it for this week!
Sandy
Image credits: photos of Greyhound poster, courtesy Sony Pictures. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.