Luke 6.26 warns, woe to you when all people speak well of you, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the false prophets.

Most people would think God wants us to be the kind of people that others speak well about. Most Christians strive for this type of ‘witness.’ Indeed, no one should be able to say to those in Christ that we do things that Christ would not do. Those who claim to be Christians must live as Jesus did.

However, Jesus was maligned, He was despised, He was betrayed, and He was ultimately killed by men. All of this happened to God while He lived among us as one of us. Why? It was not because He wasn’t a good person. It was not because He helped numerous people.

It was because He identified as God and the fulfillment of all the Scripture’s promises about the coming Messiah. God tells us not to seek the approval of men in the context of compromising our testimony of His kingdom coming to earth and His will being done. This warning of judgement follows His promise of reward for those who are persecuted for identifying with Him before men.

We are God’s witnesses, He is making His appeal through us for all men to be saved. When we embrace our identity in Christ, when we live unashamed of our Savior, then we will tell others about Him consistently, passionately and humbly.

When we start speaking for Christ we can expect men to start speaking against us and then we will have to decide, whom will we please, men or God?