There's something absurd about the people of God feeling the need to do dog tricks.

Anybody know what I'm talking about?

Run after the ball.

Jump for the bone.

Roll over.

Performing for one person after another, so they will approve of us. We're going to get some insight into the warnings that Jesus gave us about people pleasing and about being very, very careful when we look around us and a lot of people are really pleased

with us because he's saying, I'm going to tell you something.

A lot of people have been pleased with a whole lot of false prophets along the way.

I want you to hear this in the message, and I've got it for you on the screen because

there's part of it.

We're going to take down as our next point. I think this is such a powerful rendering by

Eugene Peterson. It says this. There's trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others,

saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests. Look how many scoundrel preachers were

approved by their ancestors. Your task is to be true, not popular. Our task is to be true,

not popular. It seems at first like just a given. Oh, we've all got that. No, I want to be,

I want to be true, I want to be true, until we know what it's like to be very unpopular.

Listen, it is a strange, strange feeling to be hated.

You talk about surreal.

So it's not like there's no price here to be paid.

Sometimes promotions are delayed, if not defaulted.

All sorts of things can result when we decide, you know what I want to be?

I want to be true.

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