The Strategy of Holy Disappointment

THE STRATEGY OF HOLY DISAPPOINTMENT

A Devotional Essay by Harold Mawela

“If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

Part One: The Crossroads of Every Soul

Let me take you to a place I know well the corner of Boom Street and Church Square in Pretoria, just a stone's throw from where I sit in Akasia. Picture, if you will, a young man standing at that intersection. To his left, the Union Buildings crown the hill like a marble monument to human ambition. To his right, the Ou Raadsaal stands as a relic of power that once was. And beneath his feet, the very ground where Voortrekker blood and African sweat have mingled for generations. He is at a crossroads not of roads, but of voices.

One voice whispers: Please them. Smile. Nod. Agree. Keep your head down and your hands open. The path of favour is the path of safety.

Another voice thunders: Fear God. Walk holy. Speak truth. Let the dead bury their dead.

Is it not true that we all feel this tension? Every morning, as the taxi hooters blare on the R80 and the smell of burning tyres drifts from the nearby township, we are faced with a choice. Will I disappoint man today, or will I disappoint God?

Let us define our terms clearly. Holy Disappointment is not the bitter taste of failure; it is the strategic, Spirit-led choice to forfeit human approval in pursuit of divine affirmation. It is the conscious decision to say no to the campfires of popularity so that you might follow the North Star of God's calling. It is not rudeness dressed in religious robes it is reverence wearing the armour of resolve.

Part Two: The Anatomy of Compromise

The argument can be formulated thus:

Premise One: Every human being craves acceptance this is the echo of Eden, the ache of being made for community.

Premise Two: The world system offers acceptance on one condition that you bend your knee to its idols, whisper its slogans, and silence your prophetic voice.

Premise Three: Christ demands total allegiance, which necessarily creates friction with any system that demands partial allegiance.

Conclusion: Therefore, to follow Christ is to embrace the friction. To serve man is to betray God. To please people is to forfeit your priesthood.

A common objection is: “But surely we must be winsome? Surely Christianity is about love, not confrontation?”

However, this fails because it confuses manner with matter. We are called to speak the truth in love but still to speak the truth. The Scripture declares unequivocally: “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you” (Luke 6:26). The approval of all people is the signature of a false prophet.

I learned this lesson in the dust of Akasia. There was a time when I was invited to speak at a gathering a prestigious one, with dignitaries and business leaders. They wanted a message that would unite, that would inspire, that would offend no one. They wanted me to water down the gospel, to speak of God as a vague force rather than a jealous King, to mention Jesus as an afterthought rather than the only Name.

And oh, how sweet their offer was! The applause I could have received! The doors that could have opened! The networks I could have joined!

But as I stood in my small study, the dust of Akasia settling on my windowsill, I heard that still, small voice: “If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

I walked into that room, and I preached Jesus—crucified, risen, and returning. I preached repentance. I preached the narrow gate. I watched the smiles freeze, the hands stop clapping, the invitations evaporate.

And I have never been more at peace.

Part Three: The Cross and the Crowd

Consider, if you will, the most strategic disappointment in human history. It happened on a hill called Golgotha. Jesus Christ—the Son of God, the One who could have summoned twelve legions of angels chose to disappoint every expectation.

He disappointed His disciples, who expected a conquering King. He disappointed the religious leaders, who expected a compliant Rabbi. He disappointed the crowds, who expected bread and circuses. He disappointed even His own mother, who watched her firstborn die like a common criminal.

But in that holy disappointment, He secured the salvation of the world.

The evidence strongly supports this: the resurrection is the most historically attested event of the ancient world. And the resurrection proves that God's approval not man's is the only approval that ultimately matters.

Picture a world where Jesus had pleased everyone. He would have been a popular teacher, a respected Rabbi, a footnote in history. Instead, He was crucified and He rose again. The path of disappointment led to glory.

Part Four: The South African Crossroads

Let me speak to you now as a South African, sitting in Pretoria, watching our beloved nation tear itself apart.

In June 2026, we find ourselves at a crossroads that would make that young man at Church Square weep. Anti-immigrant protests have erupted across the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and Gauteng. Groups have set a deadline 30 June for undocumented migrants to leave. And our leaders declare it a "normal working day", as if anything about this moment is normal.

Meanwhile, our youth unemployment rate has climbed to 45.8% among those aged 15 to 34. More than 3.9 million young people are not in employment, education, or training. The murder rate, though down 9.5%, still claims 58 lives every single day. Corruption drains resources meant for schools, clinics, and housing. The housing backlog stands at 2.6 million units.

And the Church? The South African Council of Churches has met with President Ramaphosa, calling for human dignity and solidarity. Cardinal Napier reminds us that we must stand with "the widow, the orphan and the stranger". Yet even churches are not immune foreign-led congregations face intimidation and threats.

In this moment, the temptation is overwhelming to please the crowd. To take the easy path. To say what is popular rather than what is true.

But the strategy of holy disappointment calls us to a different path.

Part Five: The Strategy Applied

First, disappoint the politics of xenophobia. The Scripture declares: "Do not mistreat or oppress a foreigner, for you were foreigners in Egypt" (Exodus 22:21). The migrant is not your enemy; the migrant is your neighbour. The problem is not the foreigner the problem is the corruption, the unemployment, the failing systems that we have allowed to fester. To blame the stranger is to please the mob but disappoint God. Choose holy disappointment.

Second, disappoint the prosperity gospel. There is a trend in our nation "church-preneurship" they call it where the gospel is commercialised, where the poor are exploited in the name of blessing. The Neo-Prophetic Churches promise wealth while extracting the last coin from the widow's purse. To preach that God wants you rich while ignoring the 4.7 million unemployed youth is to please the crowd but disappoint God. Choose holy disappointment.

Third, disappoint the spirit of this age. South Africa has emerged as a global leader in the "sober-curious" movement and that is good, for alcohol has destroyed too many homes. But there is another intoxication: the intoxication of approval, of likes, of social media validation. The Amapiano beats play, the baggy cargos dominate youth fashion, and the influencers shape our souls. But we must ask: who are we pleasing? Choose holy disappointment.

Fourth, disappoint the fear of man. The fear of man lays a snare (Proverbs 29:25). I have seen it in the halls of power, in the boardrooms of Pretoria, in the churches of Akasia. Men and women who know the truth but are afraid to speak it. Pastors who preach what the congregation wants to hear rather than what they need to hear. Businessmen who compromise their ethics to close a deal. Politicians who promise everything and deliver nothing.

The fear of man is the prison of the soul. Holy disappointment is the key.

Part Six: The Prize of Peace

Let me tell you a secret: the peace you seek is found in saying no.

Not the peace of the world the peace that comes from avoiding conflict, from keeping everyone happy, from being liked by all. That peace is a mirage. It evaporates the moment you fail to please.

No, the peace I speak of is the peace of Christ the peace that passes understanding. It is the peace that comes when you have done what is right, even when it costs you everything. It is the peace of knowing that you have pleased the only One whose opinion ultimately matters.

You will never possess what you are unwilling to pursue. And if you pursue the approval of man, you will possess nothing but anxiety. But if you pursue the approval of God, you will possess peace—the peace that the world cannot give and cannot take away.

Part Seven: A Call to Arms

Therefore, reason itself, illuminated by Scripture and confirmed in our deepest longings, compels us to acknowledge that the strategy of holy disappointment is not optional it is essential.

We must sound the alarm against the compromise that masquerades as wisdom. We must name the error of cultural accommodation that calls itself contextualisation. We must reject the syncretism that blends the gospel with the spirit of the age.

The Springboks are preparing for their 2026 campaign but we are preparing for an eternal campaign. Siya Kolisi speaks of "fearless young warriors" but we serve the King of Kings. The warriors of the world fight for a trophy that fades; we fight for a crown that never fades.

True liberation is found only in submitting to the Lordship of Christ. True freedom is found only in the slavery of obedience. True success is found only in the failure of pleasing man.

Part Eight: The Final Word

I close with this: the strategy of holy disappointment filters your world. It attracts those destined for your journey and frees those who are not. It is the sifting that separates the wheat from the chaff, the gold from the dross, the friends from the fans.

When you disappoint people for the sake of Christ, you are not being rude—you are being righteous. You are not being unloving—you are being loving in the truest sense. For love does not affirm what destroys; love warns, love corrects, love speaks the truth.

The Apostle Paul understood this. He had been a people-pleaser a Pharisee of Pharisees, a man who had the approval of the religious establishment. But then he met Jesus on the Damascus Road, and everything changed. He became the most disappointing man of his generation disappointing to the Jews, disappointing to the Gentiles, disappointing even to his fellow apostles at times. But he also became the most influential man of his generation.

Why? Because he stopped chasing the campfires of popularity and fixed his eyes on the North Star of God's calling.

Prayer

Father, give me courage to choose holy disappointment over compromising Your will. When the crowd calls, give me ears for Your voice alone. When the applause beckons, give me eyes for Your approval alone. When the path of popularity opens before me, give me feet for the narrow road alone. Let me disappoint every voice that does not echo heaven. Let me please only You. My peace is my prize and my prize is You. In the mighty Name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my King. Amen.

Final Thought: What you do daily determines what you become permanently. Today, choose the holy disappointment that leads to eternal peace. Tomorrow, choose it again. And again. Until the day when you stand before the One whose approval is the only approval that lasts forever.

Harold Mawela is a Christian writer based in Akasia, Pretoria. He writes to equip the saints for the work of ministry and to sound the alarm against the compromise of the age.