Those who live for the praise of men will actually find themselves despised by men. These will be men without conviction or direction but blown about by every wind of human opinion.  Such men will be of no help to others.

Charles Spurgeon’s popularity as a young preacher was unmatched. The congregation at the New Park Street Chapel in London in the winter of 1853 was only a few dozen. But thanks to the young preacher, they outgrew the 1,000-seat chapel in less than a year. And the crowds kept growing. They would eventually outgrow the 3,000-seat Exeter Hall and eventually fill the 10,000-seat Surrey Gardens Music Hall. His weekly sermons would begin to be published in 1855, and they would continue to be sold throughout the English-speaking world for the next 63 years. In 1861, the magnificent Metropolitan Tabernacle would be built, a building that housed the largest congregation in evangelicalism.

To be sure, with so much success, Spurgeon attracted constant criticism. But more dangerous, in his view, was the praise of men. Writing to a friend in 1855, Spurgeon confessed, “My pride is so infernal that there is not a man on earth who can hold it in… Sometimes, I get such a view of my own insignificance that I call myself all the fools in the world for even letting pride pass my door without frowning at him.” The popularity he experienced meant that he had to be on constant guard against pride. This was a battle that he fought throughout his 40 years of pastoral ministry.

As a seasoned pastor, Spurgeon wrote an article in 1880 warning aspiring preachers of the pitfall of becoming dependent on human praise: “The youthful worker is very apt to be exalted should he receive a little praise, and there are many injudicious persons who are ready to lavish eulogiums upon any young beginner who seems to be at all promising.”^[1]

Whether a “youthful worker” or a seasoned pastor, we all deal with the fear of man, that is, a wrong desire for human approval, even above God’s approval. So what advice would Spurgeon have for us in dealing with the praise of men? He would have us keep in mind four warnings:

The Praise of Men Is Fickle

First, Spurgeon would say, flattery is fickle. Those who use flattery are often using it for some personal advantage, and when that motive is gone, the flattery may soon change to nothing at all. So why build your hopes on something so empty?

When a man with a loud mouth praises me, I have good reason to be wary in my dealings with him. The boa-constrictor first covers its victim with saliva, and then swallows him; and we have known serpents, of both sexes do the same with young preachers. Beware of the net of the flatterer, and the bait of the maker of compliments. Human opinion is so changeable, and even while it lasts it is of so mixed a character, that it is virtually worth nothing at all. We all remember how the men of Lystra first offered to worship Paul, and then within an hour began to stone him. Who cares to run for a crown which melts as soon as it wreathes the winner’s brow? The flash of a wave, or the gleam of a meteor, is not more fleeting than popular applause.

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