Honoring the Man of God

Q: I NOMINATED A SENIOR CITIZEN TO BE HONORED AS A MAN OF GOD AND HE REFUSED TO HAVE ANY PART IN IT BECAUSE HE SAID THAT THE BIBLE SAYS HONOR NO MAN. PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS.

A: There is nothing wrong with the man you wanted to honor refusing your request. The Bible doesn't mandate that we, as Christians, accept honor for simply being Christians. Nor does it encourage us to honor other Christians for that reason either. All of us are children of God (John 1:12) through faith in Jesus Christ. None of us are any more acceptable to God than the next person. I am sure you have your reasons for wanting to honor this man, but don't be concerned about his not wanting you to honor him. I am sure he meant no harm or disrespect in his actions. If we look in the pages of scripture for any assistance in this matter what we find would seem to support not being honored rather than being honored. In Acts 11, we see where Paul and Barnabas were being treated like gods because of a miraculous healing performed on a crippled man. The people of Lystra were shouting "The gods have come down to us in human form (Acts 11:11)!" and wanted to "offer sacrifices to them (Acts 11:13)." However, Paul and Barnabas were greatly disturbed by their behavior and responded by saying, "We too are only men, human like you (Acts 11:15)."

There response is consistent with Christian teaching in that anything we do of note is only because God is doing it through us in the Person of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Too often we can put people up on a pedestal as if they are somehow due more honor than the rest of us. However, that can lead to feelings of condemnation arising in those who aren't honored because they may feel that their worthiness before God is somehow related to the extent they are honored by fellow Christians. And on the flip side, those honored must fight against their pride being fueled as if they are better than other Christians. The Bible says that "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5)." For the average Christian we had to be humbled prior to accepting the Lord as our Savior. We know that anything good we do is God doing it through us. Any praise should be given to Him and Him alone. Therefore, it can be quite embarrassing, and even uncomfortable, to accept praise from others, even if they mean well by doing it. I don't say this to condemn you, or anybody else, for wanting to make someone feel good about themselves. I am only stating that we should be careful who we give honor to and why we do it.

I will admit that sometimes it may be necessary to accept honor from others as not to give offense. Perhaps, in those situations it can serve as a platform for the one being honored to direct attention back to the One who we should really be giving honor to, Jesus Christ. There are far too many examples of so-called men of God not only accepting honor, but expecting it. With all the religious titles thrown around these days you can see the flesh rising up to soak it all up. With titles like Pope, Prophet, First Lady, Prophetous and even, I kid you not, Apostle being thrown around, is it any wonder we don't see too many humble Christians who have been honored? These people run to the spotlight and believe themselves deserving of these man-made titles. However, scripture seems to point to the exact opposite attitude when it comes to being "honored." When Peter went to the home of Cornelius, in Acts 10, Cornelius fell at his feet to honor him. Peter rebuked him and said, "Stand up... I am only a man myself (Acts 10:26)." This is a handpicked Apostle of Jesus Christ saying this. You would think if anybody deserved honor it would be an Apostle. But, Peter knew he was only a vessel being used by the Lord and was not worthy of any special attention.

Again, there is nothing inherently wrong with your desire to want to honor the gentleman you speak of. I only want to impress on you that there is nothing wrong or unbiblical by his refusing to be honored. The honor we give to each other should be displayed in our personal interactions with each other more-so than through any public displays. For example, the Bible talks about children giving honor to their mothers and fathers (Matthew 15:4). Husbands are to give honor to their wives (1 Peter 3:7). And the Bible talks about how, ultimately, the humble are the ones who will be given honor (Luke 14:11). The underlying message in all of this is to "not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment (Romans 12:3)." It should be honor enough to know that you are in Christ and have an eternal inheritance waiting for you. Nothing we get from our fellow man can compare. When we look at it from this perspective it helps keep us focused on Jesus Christ who has been given the highest place of honor. "Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Hebrews 7:26)."