Activities
Spiritual Formation
Emptiness of Applause- Power of Purpose
by John Bishop, Director of Spiritual Formation, based on this week's MS/HS Chapel
After the Israelites cried out to God for deliverance from their slavery in Egypt, God went into the wilderness to find a shepherd named Moses and called him to lead His people out. But before Moses was chosen to confront Pharaoh, there was a defining moment in his story that must not be overlooked. Moses first had to confront the need for affirmation within his own heart.
From his position in the Egyptian palace where he had been raised, Moses saw an Egyptian foreman beating a Hebrew slave. Acting on his own sense of justice, Moses intervened and killed the man. Like Cain before him, Moses unilaterally decided that he knew best, becoming judge, juror, and executioner. The next day, Scripture tells us, he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting and asked, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” (Exodus 2:13). Instead of being broken by his sin and seeking God’s mercy, Moses sought validation from others. When he received confirmation of his guilt rather than applause for his choice, he fled into hiding.
There is emptiness in applause when we’re hoping to use that affirmation to fill our souls. Whether we seek approval to justify our failures or attempt to prop up our worth through performance—as athletes, students, friends, sons or daughters, or even Christians—the praise of others feels good while it lasts, but it never fully delivers the affirmation we need. Applause fades, expectations grow, and the soul remains restless.
Yet God was gracious to Moses. Forty years later, He met him in the desert through a burning bush and called him to deliver Israel. By then, Moses had been reshaped by obscurity and repentance. The man who once grasped for recognition had become humble and aware of his limitations. Moses, whose name means “drawn out of the water,” would become the one through whom God drew an entire nation through the Red Sea. But this second time he didn’t do it to be seen, He did it in obedience to God’s call in his life.
Jesus faced a far greater moment of decision in the Garden of Gethsemane. In His humanity, He felt the crushing weight of what lay ahead, yet He prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.” In that prayer, we see the ultimate contrast between the emptiness of applause and the power of purpose. Applause offers fleeting approval, but purpose calls for surrender and produces lasting freedom. True deliverance is found not in being seen or celebrated, but in trusting the Father completely.
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After the Israelites cried out to God for deliverance from their slavery in Egypt, God went into the wilderness to find a shepherd named Moses and called him to lead His people out. But before Moses was chosen to confront Pharaoh, there was a defining moment in his story that must not be overlooked. Moses first had to confront the need for affirmation within his own heart.
From his position in the Egyptian palace where he had been raised, Moses saw an Egyptian foreman beating a Hebrew slave. Acting on his own sense of justice, Moses intervened and killed the man. Like Cain before him, Moses unilaterally decided that he knew best, becoming judge, juror, and executioner. The next day, Scripture tells us, he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting and asked, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” (Exodus 2:13). Instead of being broken by his sin and seeking God’s mercy, Moses sought validation from others. When he received confirmation of his guilt rather than applause for his choice, he fled into hiding.
There is emptiness in applause when we’re hoping to use that affirmation to fill our souls. Whether we seek approval to justify our failures or attempt to prop up our worth through performance—as athletes, students, friends, sons or daughters, or even Christians—the praise of others feels good while it lasts, but it never fully delivers the affirmation we need. Applause fades, expectations grow, and the soul remains restless.
Yet God was gracious to Moses. Forty years later, He met him in the desert through a burning bush and called him to deliver Israel. By then, Moses had been reshaped by obscurity and repentance. The man who once grasped for recognition had become humble and aware of his limitations. Moses, whose name means “drawn out of the water,” would become the one through whom God drew an entire nation through the Red Sea. But this second time he didn’t do it to be seen, He did it in obedience to God’s call in his life.
Jesus faced a far greater moment of decision in the Garden of Gethsemane. In His humanity, He felt the crushing weight of what lay ahead, yet He prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.” In that prayer, we see the ultimate contrast between the emptiness of applause and the power of purpose. Applause offers fleeting approval, but purpose calls for surrender and produces lasting freedom. True deliverance is found not in being seen or celebrated, but in trusting the Father completely.
Westminster Christian School, located in Palmetto Bay, Florida, is a private, college-preparatory school for children from preschool through twelfth grade.