Episode 327 - "Rejoice in the Power of God's Amazing Good News" - Philippians 1:15-18

Phil. 1:15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

In light of the circumstances of his incarceration, the apostle Paul’s attitude seems odd. Why? Because he is joyful. Multiple times throughout this letter, words like joy and rejoice will be used to express Paul’s emotional state as he writes under house arrest.

He is joyful in his prayers concerning the believers at Philippi because they have supported him from the very beginning of his ministry. While he doesn’t repeat the word joy or rejoice again in verses 12-14, his emotion is clearly present as he explains to his audience that his imprisonment has led to an even greater spread of the gospel because the imperial guard is hearing it and understands why Paul is imprisoned. In other words, while Paul was the one who was “captive,” it was the imperial guard who was Paul’s captive audience. They had to be him and keep an eye on him, and Paul took advantage of the opportunity.

In verses 15-18, Paul writes that others are taking advantage of the opportunity of Paul’s imprisonment. He explains that there are two groups of people. There are those who are preaching out of a heart of envy or jealousy of the attention given to Paul and perhaps even gloating a bit at Paul’s situation. He explains that they are doing it from “selfish ambition” (v. 17). The other group does it selflessly out of love.

This would be an opportunity for Paul to encourage the Philippians to identify those in the first group and discipline them. But what does he say? “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” (v. 18) Wow! Paul didn’t excuse the motivations of the envious group. But his perspective is that “Christ is proclaimed,” and then he states, “and in that I rejoice.” (v.18)

There are two things from this that strike me as important to own and learn to act upon. The first thing is to have a kingdom perspective on every circumstance in life. Trust that while people are doing things from evil motivations, God is in control, and his ultimate will is not hampered by people’s attitudes and motivations. The second is closely related: the power of the gospel's message does not lie in the motivations of its speakers. Paul believes that people may have the absolute worst motivations in sharing the gospel, but God can and will still make an impact on the hearts of those who hear it. This reveals an important truth about the gospel. We are not the ones responsible for convincing people of the truth of the gospel. We are simply responsible for sharing the message that Jesus died on the cross to take the judgment for our sin upon himself. He was buried, and on the third day he rose from the dead. He is presently with the Father in heaven and will someday return to raise us who’ve trusted in Jesus to be with him eternally. Jesus’ death creates a peaceful relationship between God and us. Secondly, it gives us hope of eternal life.

Let us rejoice in this tremendous privilege and gain courage to do this, knowing that God is the one who does the hard work in people’s hearts and minds.