College football action begins this weekend with 13th-ranked Notre Dame taking on Navy and 6th-ranked USC playing San Jose State. As a new season begins, we as fans have high hopes for our favorite team and their performance level.

Of all the sports, college football fans are especially passionate. That’s not surprising when acknowledging they play a big role in recruiting and coaches being fired, and also creating a home-field advantage and atmosphere that impact the perception of a program. (Many fans are boosters and contribute financially, as well, which increases their impact.)

Because of this influence, the players, coaches, and administrations have the pressure to keep fans happy. When we aren’t happy, we are very vocal about it.

Heading into another season, each fan base has expectations for how many games their team should win. If we’re honest, many fans are unrealistic and their standards are out of whack. Some think their team should be as good as they were in previous years…or even decades ago.

An L.A. Times article provided a headline that jumped out to me: “How Many Wins Do USC and UCLA Need to Please Fans This Season?”

That question sums up the influence fans have on college football programs (beyond USC and UCLA) and how teams are pressured and expected to win enough to please the fans. They really care about us!

The reality is that teams can never really win enough, can they? Even a team like Alabama which has consistently won many championships, won’t please their fans unless they win them all. Similarly, teams that win a ton of games, but don’t win by a large enough margin, hear about it from their fans.

Yes, fans have a voice, but ultimately when those players step on the field each Saturday in the fall, I hope their purpose in playing isn’t just about pleasing the fans and gaining their approval.

In our own lives, we also face a daily battle of whether or not we’re seeking the approval and applause of others.

Is our motivation to please others? Do we feel the pressure to do whatever is necessary to keep people happy and live up to the expectations and standards they place on us? How much do we listen to the negative criticism and questioning that others have toward us?

While we’ll never please everyone, no matter how hard we try, as followers of Jesus, we should be living for a much greater purpose than to gain the approval of people and cater to their demands or out-of-whack standards.

Our mindset ought to be that of the apostle Paul when he says in Galatians 1:10 (NLT), “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”

Paul writes this about his ministry approach in 1 Thessalonians 2:4 (NLT): “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.”

The ESV translates Galatians 1:10 into these questions, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

How do we answer that question today? What are our motivations and desires? What does our life reveal about who we’re trying to please?

Just like it’s a futile goal for college football players to try and please rabid and never-satisfied fans like us, it’s also not worth living our lives trying to please anyone more than God.

He is the One we live for as we respond to His extravagant love and grace for us. We do it without pressure or obligation, but rather with freedom and gratitude and in a way that blesses God and brings Him glory.

I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please help me stop worrying so much about what other people think or say about me. I desire to please You above all else. I want to be Christ’s servant and live a life that points people to You. Thank you for Your extravagant grace and love. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.