Can a person serve both God and men at the same time?
No. The apostle Paul asks whether he persuades men or God, and states that if he still pleased men, he would not be the servant of Christ. You cannot serve both. A person cannot please God and mammon; serving men prevents being Christ’s bond slave.
Les explains that Paul did not draw a salary, so he was not beholden to anybody. If Paul needed money, he made tents, so he didn’t have to worry about losing pay or serving men. Paul asks, “Do I persuade men or God?” and says, “If I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Les emphasizes you can’t serve both—you cannot please God and mammon. Paul endured imprisonment, beatings, shipwreck, cold, heat, and nakedness not to serve men but because he was the bond slave of Jesus Christ, which is his motivation, as in Ephesians 3:1.
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.