We all like a kind word, encouragement and even a little flattery feels good, but it can be a deadly trap. In Luke 6:20-31 Jesus spoke of the woe we face when everyone speaks well of us. Among pastors we often joke that if everyone likes us we must be doing something wrong, and there is a large measure of truth to that. Elijah the prophet was labeled a troublemaker by his nation’s leader Ahab. He was not very popular. More popular was a pagan god called Ba’al (1 Kings 18), the principal god of a place or “lord”. So eventually there was a confrontation between a lonely Elijah and 450 priests of Ba’al. Which was more important, being flattered and popular or being right? In the great judgment day only one reputation will matter, being popular with God.
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