While the first priority of every Christian must be securing the favor of God, we also do well to pursue the favor of man. The two are often connected, as Solomon declared, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him” (Proverbs 16:7). In general, the kind of life that is pleasing to God is also pleasing to man.

When I was in my early 20s, one of my friends had a sudden experience of spiritual growth and enthusiasm. Suddenly, he had a new fervor for the Lord and a fresh desire to serve him. He began using new words and imaginative phrases to describe his relationship with God and his longing to live for his glory. One of these was “audience of One.” “I don’t care what other people think of me,” he said. “I’m just going to live before an audience of One.”

I quickly learned what he meant. He was determined not to be concerned with what people thought of him but to instead seek out and live the will of God, no matter the cost. In these days of enthusiasm, only God’s opinion mattered to him. I lost touch with my friend soon after his big commitment, so I never learned how well he succeeded. I knew his intentions were sincere, but as I considered his catchphrase, I came to wonder whether he had actually mastered the Bible’s emphasis on life in this world.

Are we to live before an audience of One? Yes and no. Nothing is more important than knowing God’s will, living it out, and enjoying his approval. The Bible has much to say about living lives that are pleasing to God. Yet the Bible also has much to say about living lives that receive the approval of man. Often, these two go hand-in-hand, and we see this connection in the life of Jesus. Luke tells us that in his teens and 20s, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

In our series “Advance!” we have already seen how the young Jesus advanced in submission, in wisdom, and in stature. As he advanced in those noble character traits and the actions they motivated, he enjoyed the favor of both God and man. We cannot end this series until we have taken a close look at this advance in favor and applied it to the life of all young Christians.

Advance in Favor

As a society, we give a lot of attention to approval. We love to analyze and quantify it, especially in the political realm. Endless polls and surveys ask us to rank and rate our politicians. We then display and discuss these approval ratings through numbers, graphs, and charts. For politicians to rule by the assent of the people, they must enjoy the approval of the people, so they rely on such polls to evaluate their accomplishments and to plot their future plans. Political careers are created and broken on the backs of the pollsters. Approval can be a reasonable desire or an insatiable idol.

As Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, he enjoyed approval the approval of both God and man. In the opening days of his ministry, God the Father cracked open the skies to assure him, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). Meanwhile, Jesus’ first sermons at the synagogues met the approval of the townsfolk so that, “all spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth” (Luke 4:22). Though some scoffed at him, all of them recognized that he was “teaching them as one who had authority” (Matthew 7:29). The Son of God and man was in the favor of God and man.

It should not surprise us that he was regarded so favorably. Centuries earlier, King Solomon had called young people to pursue wisdom and attempted to motivate them with the result: “My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments … So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:1, 4). Jesus walked on that path of wisdom and gained the promised result—the favor of God and of people. Had he been a foolish, immature rebel, he would have deserved only pity and condemnation. But he committed his teens and 20s to obedience, wisdom and godly living, and gained the fitting reward.

God offers that same reward to you. Just as Jesus advanced in the favor of God and man, so can you. So should you. But the order must be right. Where men’s approval is flawed and fading, God’s is perfect and unchanging. Therefore, we must live first for him. “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” (Galatians 1:10). There may be times you can have the approval of only one, because gaining the favor of God will cost the favor of man. For this reason we will look first at how and why you must pursue the favor of God above all else.

Pursue the Favor of God

You have the favor of God. God not only loves you, but the gospel also assures you that he approves of you. You have been saved by the grace of God, which means you have the full acceptance of God. There is nothing you can accomplish to make God approve of you more and no sin you can commit to make God approve of you less. This complete and unchanging approval is yours by virtue of what Christ accomplished on your behalf.

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