“Pioneer Advances” (Part Three)

We have been reminded this week of the power of influence for God. And what makes it so significant is the fact that Paul was under house arrest in Rome when he left his mark for God in Caesar’s palace!

Now Paul dealt with some ancient issues that continue to be a 21st- century church problem—competition, envy, jealousy, and wrong motives! This was a concern of Paul as he wrote this letter, and it is a struggle today for the Evangelical church. This leads to a third point: The envious continued to share the gospel (Phil.1:16-18).

Paul was very direct and honest as he wrote about church life in the city of Rome. He knew what was going on in the city even though he was chained and housebound. Some were ministering with pure motives and others with impure motives. Some viewed Paul’s imprisonment as a season to make a name for themselves. They were serving out of  “envy and strife, and . . . selfish ambition” (1:15-16). They did not know the heart of this man. They were not aware that in years to come his commitment to the spread of the good news would lead to his execution, nor that he could say at the end of the journey: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). So the main thing with the apostle was that the good news was being preached. He left motives with an all-knowing God. His response to those who preached with wrong motives was “So what!” The gospel was being preached. I like the paraphrase in The Message: “So how am I to respond? I’ve decided I really don’t care about their motives, whether mixed, bad, or indifferent. Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed, so I just cheer them on!” (Phil. 1:18).

We still confront competition and jealousy in the evangelical church today. No matter how many churches there are in your city, the facts are that church attendance is declining, churches are closing their doors, and there’s a waning interest in the gospel. The time has come to thank God for every gospel-preaching church in your city and to join together as a “band of brothers.”

Recommended Resources:

Philippians by Gordon Fee

The Message of Philippians by J. A. Motyer

Laugh Again by Charles Swindoll

Philippians. A Distant Presence by Tim Woodroof