I’ve decided that Top Gun: Maverick may be the best movie made in the past decade. If you haven’t seen it, you NEED to, but let me give you a quick plot summary: Tom Cruise, aka Maverick – who was the star and hero of the 1986 PREQUEL (that’s what I’m calling it; since the SECOND one is so good) – Maverick gets called BACK to the Navy’s “Top Gun” division to be the trainer and mission coordinator for a top secret and HIGHLY – like… IMPOSSIBLY DANGEROUS – mission. These pilots have got to take out an unnamed enemy country’s enriched uranium facility before they can develop nuclear capability (they’ve only got TWO weeks to train), but the mission requires flying at low altitude yet BREAK-neck speed through rough terrain to avoid radar detection, inverting the plane and flying upside down while simultaneously pinpointing the nuclear reactor target, drop their bombs then climb the steep mountain cliff that surrounds the enemy’s base, and then outgun the enemy’s superior fighter jets in the DOGfight that’s sure to ensue post-bombing. The chances of mission success are infinitesimal; when the admirals call Tom Cruise in to brief him, and he starts asking questions about how they plan to get the pilots home safely AFTER they drop their bombs, and the enemy unloads their entire ARSENAL on us, the admirals just kind of LOOK at each other as if to say, “Uhhh, are YOU gonna tell him?… “No, YOU tell him!… “Maverick: you don’t GET it; this is a SUICIDE mission. They ain’t COMING home.”
We watched it together on Friday night as a family (go ahead, judge me…), but my kids LOVED it. And yet, there were TWO things about the movie that really CONFUSED them. Here’s the FIRST question they had: “Why in the WORLD would someone sign UP for a mission like that?” Most of the movie is the TRYOUTS – they start with twelve pilots, the best in the world – and Tom Cruise has gotta narrow it down to just SIX who are actually gonna fly the mission; and they’re COMPETING for it. That didn’t COMPUTE for my kids: “Wait, wait, wait: they’re trying to… get ON the mission? I thought you said it was a SUICIDE missions? Do THEY know that? There’s almost NO chance they survive this? Why would they want to get PICKED?!?”
I said, “Kids: because SOME things are WORTH giving your LIFE for.”
This morning, we’re going to be studying the words of a man who knew that truth better than ANYONE. A man who found a cause even WORTHIER of his life (and death!) than preventing a hostile enemy from getting a nuclear weapon.
That man is the apostle Paul, and that cause is the advancement of the gospel. We were introduced to BOTH the man and the cause last week in our series introduction to this book of Philippians, but in case you missed it, let me quickly catch you up:
Paul, who USED to be known as SAUL, had originally (and ironically!) devoted his life to the cause of persecuting Christians, with the goal of STOPPING the advancement of the gospel. The gospel is the good news about Jesus Christ: that God sent his Son Jesus into the world to live the life of obedience that you and I should be living but all-too-often FAIL to, then Jesus willingly DIED the death that you and I rightfully DESERVE because of our sin – Christ laid down his life sacrificially on the cross, in our place, to pay the punishment for our sins and offer us FORGIVENESS, and then Jesus ROSE from the grave on the third day, DEFEATING Sin and Death and offering NEWNESS of life – ETERNAL life – to ALL who would simply trust in Him by FAITH.
Friends: that is GOOD news; it is THE good news; the BEST news there IS! And it is SO good that the very LAST thing Jesus instructed his followers to do, right before He ascended BACK into heaven, was to TAKE this news to OTHERS, to EVERYONE!
“Go and make disciples of all nations…” (Mt 28:19)
““Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation!” (Mk 16:15)
“repentance for the forgiveness of sins [MUST] be proclaimed in [my] name to all nations… You are [my] witnesses….” (Lk 24:47-48)
Go and “feed my sheep”, nourish them with the GOSPEL (Jn 21:17)
“you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” (Ac 1:8)
In ALL FOUR GOSPELS, plus the book of Acts, those were Jesus’ last words, his final INSTRUCTIONS for all who would follow HIM.
But SAUL was on the other SIDE of that cause, trying to STOP the gospel from spreading… until he had a PERSONAL encounter with the resurrected JESUS on the road to Damascus. Christ REMOVED the scales from Saul’s eyes (and his HEART!), and enabled PAUL to see clearly the truth and the beauty of the gospel. And to see clearly the URGENCY of the Great COMMISSION, Paul’s calling – the CHURCH’s calling / OUR calling! – to take this gospel to EVERYONE.
You’re gonna hear it in almost every WORD that he writes this morning: Paul’s love of the GOSPEL, and his ardor to see it ADVANCE.
*v12: “advance the gospel”
*v14: “speak the word without fear”
*v15: “preach Christ”
*v16: I’m “here for the defense of the gospel”
*v17: “proclaim Christ”
*v18: “that in EVERY way… Christ is proclaimed”
His words are OOZING with such PURPOSE and PASSION that we almost forget he’s WRITING all this from PRISON! Or at least from HOUSE arrest; remember: Paul had DESIRED to travel to Rome to preach the gospel there (Rom 1:11), and God said, “Oh, you’re going to ROME alright… and you’re gonna preach the GOSPEL alright… Just not from a pulpit, but from a PRISON.” Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem, by his old FRIENDS, the Pharisees, still intent on stopping the spread of the gospel. They had Paul brought up and tried on false charges, and ultimately, as a Roman citizen, Paul was forced to “appeal to CAESAR” to try and get a fair trial. So he got shipped to Rome (and ship-WRECKED along the WAY; “All for the BEST,” Paul thought, “just more folks to share the GOSPEL with, on the island of MALTA”), but EVENTUALLY he made it to Rome, where he spent TWO FULL YEARS confined under HOUSE arrest, DURING which time he penned this letter to the Philippians. In LARGE part, to REASSURE them: that his IMPRISONMENT has NOT been “in VAIN”, but RATHER, “has really served to advance the gospel”.
And after all, that’s what it’s all about, for PAUL anyway.
His cause wasn’t his own COMFORT. Paul could’ve taken this opportunity to understandably LAMENT his chains; but his concern wasn’t his comfort.
The cause wasn’t his CELEBRITY. Here’s the greatest preacher, the greatest evangelist, the greatest CHRISTIAN of ALL time, seemingly getting BENCHED in his prime. This is Jordan, in ‘93-’95, his PRIME, taking a BREAK from basketball. Paul is in SERIOUS risk of just kinda fading into obscurity, as he rots away in prison. Doesn’t bother him a bit.
The cause wasn’t even his CONVERSION numbers; Paul could have likely made many more converts if he hadn’t spent 5-6 YEARS, cumulatively, in prison – 2 years in Caesarea, after the arrest in Jerusalem, 2 MORE years here in Rome, we know that years later he would spend many months in prison AGAIN in Rome awaiting his final execution, and in 2 Corinthians 11 he says that he endured “far more imprisonments” than THAT; so many he lost COUNT! (v23). Just imagine what an evangelist like PAUL could’ve done with an extra 5 or 6 YEARS of preaching freely, to larger crowds.
But his cause wasn’t comfort, celebrity, or even conversions; for Paul, the cause was always CHRIST. And the advance of his gospel, in WHATEVER context the Lord saw fit to place Paul.
Even if that context meant DEATH. I don’t wanna steal TOO much of Pastor Thad’s thunder for next week, but in v20, Paul’s gonna say, “it is my eager expectation and hope that… now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by LIFE or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
Friends: we need to ASK ourselves this morning: “What is MY cause? How would I, honestly, fill in Paul’s blanks there:
*“For ME, to LIVE is… FAMILY. My family is EVERYTHING to me. Well, then you can’t say “to die is GAIN” now CAN you? Cuz they ain’t comin’ WITH ya. To die is SEPARATION.
*”For me, to LIVE is… MONEY, then to DIE is… LOSS.” Cuz you’re not taking THAT with ya EITHER. Jesus reasoned, “Look: it doesn’t make ANY SENSE to live your life for the purpose of accumulating more and more and more; Jesus said, “You FOOL! This very NIGHT your SOUL is required of you – when God says, “Time’s UP”, and He calls your number – Jesus warned, “the things you have prepared”, all the BARNS you BUILT, to store all the GRAIN you STOCK-piled… all the ACCOUNTS you OPENED, to store all the WEALTH you ACCUMULATED… – “whose will they BE??” Your kids? Grandkids?
WHY?! So THEY can learn to put THEIR hope and security in earthly riches TOO? So THEY can watch the number on the statement slowly climb until THEY die TOO, and then… WHAT? Pass it all on to THEIR kids and grandkids? For WHAT? What’s the POINT? Is that REALLY the best CAUSE that you have found to LIVE for?
*”For me, to live is WORK, and to die is FAILURE.”
*”To live is PLEASURE, and to die is PAIN.”
Don’t you see, friends? Every other CAUSE to which we give our LIVES, always comes up SHORT. There’s only ONE “win-win SOLUTION” for us; only ONE way that DEATH can actually be our “gain”, and that’s if CHRIST is our LIFE! When CHRIST is your hope, in life AND death, then you can SING with Paul:
“why should we tremble when trials draw near?
Be still and remember the worst that can come
But shortens our journey and hastens us home” (“Christ Our Glory, Sovereign Grace Music)
Don’t you want that kind of CONFIDENCE, that BLESSED assurance? Don’t you want a CAUSE that’s worth living for… worth DYING for? It’s all HERE for you, in the GOSPEL.
Let’s read it together; I invite you to STAND… Phil 1:12-18(a); hear the word of the Lord:
“I want you to know, brothers,[e] that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard[f] and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word[g] without fear.
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.”
This is the word of God…
The apostle Paul REJOICES here in the ADVANCE of the GOSPEL. And he invites us to do the same, and to derive our joy, in particular, from THREE ENCOURAGING TRUTHS ABOUT the spread of the gospel.
The FIRST is that (#1) Our TRIALS are opportunities to advance the gospel. (vv12-13)
Not only did Paul REFUSE to see his trial – his LITERAL trial… and arrest… and imprisonment… – as a HINDRANCE to the spread of the gospel; Paul viewed his captivity as the very MEANS by which God was disseminating the good news: “what has happened to me has really SERVED to advance the gospel” (12).
In what way? BECAUSE of my incarceration, Paul explains in v13, “it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard[f] AND to all the rest” – who’s THAT, by the way? We can’t know for SURE who Paul has in mind by this “all the rest”, but I think he gives us a hint in his conclusion to the letter in ch4, when he writes: “All the saints [here in Rome] greet you, especially those of Caesar’s HOUSEHOLD” (v22). Paul’s gospel had managed to INFILTRATE even the emperor’s own – NERO’s – “oikos”, his “household”. Now that could refer to some of his closest servants, perhaps his personal bodyguards… but Paul COULD mean that even some of Nero’s FAMILY members had become believers in Christ; we don’t know for sure. But what we DO know is that in their attempt to STOP the spread of the gospel, Paul’s opponents had actually – IRONICALLY – invited it right into the very EPI-center of POWER and INFLUENCE in the ancient world, the “belly of the beast”. Paul had gained access, albeit indirectly, to an audience he never could have IMAGINED being able to evangelize: the ROYAL FAMILY!
Now, I say Paul had indirect access to them, because how did those in “Caesar’s household” come to believe? Likely, through this “imperial guard” he mentions in v13. Commentator Kent Hughes explains (48): “The imperial guard, or Praetorian, consisted of 9,000 handpicked soldiers who were honored with double pay, good pensions, and special duties. But among their NOT-so-special duties was that of guarding imperial prisoners by [means of] an attached chain. [So these soldiers took turns, four at a time, in 6 hour shifts, actually being CHAINED to the prisoners, cuz remember: Paul’s not in a JAIL cell; he’s under HOUSE arrest. So he’s a FLIGHT risk, so they would actually chain the guards directly TO him.] Paul experienced a shuffle of soldiers shackled to him [Hughes notes]. As soldier after soldier was chained to him in successive watches, they heard the gospel both directly and from Paul’s conversations with his prison visitors.” Paul had QUITE the “CAPTIVE audience”! (pun intended)
But consider that with me, Church. Paul was WRONGFULLY in chains; he’d done NOTHING wrong. And yet he spent TWO full YEARS with HEAVY shackles around his wrists and ankles… not even being able to go to the BATHROOM in privacy, having some strange, smelly MAN – actually, FOUR of them! – sitting there right next to his bedside, staring at him while he’s trying to fall ASLEEP!
But did Paul send this letter to the church in Philippi to COMPLAIN? “I want you to know, brothers,[e] that what has happened to me is really”… a great INJUSTICE! It’s not FAIR! Oh, and by the way, when you write back, please send some kind of PRIVACY screen along with the next messenger you dispatch; I’m getting so SICK and tired of having 24/7 company! Zero ALONE time… I can’t even send this LETTER without having to request, “Umm, EXCUSE me, could I get a little more SLACK over here; I’m trying to write a letter…”
(“Oh, who are ya WRITING…”)
(“None of your BUSINESS!”)
No! Paul says, “I’m glad you asked! This is a letter to the church back in Philippi…”
-”What’s a “church”?”
-”Oh, I’m even MORE glad you asked THAT!” And then he shared the gospel with them.
Paul reasoned, “I am EXACTLY where God wants me! THIS – these Praetorian guards – are my “mission field” now.” And he got to witness to 24 of them every single DAY; who KNOWS how many soldiers Paul was able to persuade to follow Christ.
He doesn’t write to say “I LAMENT”, but rather “I REJOICE!”, v16. Remember 16x in Philippians Paul will use the word “joy” or “rejoice”, more than ANY of his other letters.
Why? HOW? Because he trusted – Paul CHOSE to BELIEVE – “that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel”, and that was game, set & match for Paul.
Is it… for US, Church? Listen: you may not be chained to a SOLDIER, but maybe you’re chained to a DESK 8 to 10 hours a day; do you take full advantage of YOUR “captive audience”, your CO-workers, to share the gospel with them?
Maybe you feel chained to the KITCHEN… the LAUNDRY… the tiny TERRORISTS who have taken over your home (and your life!) and demand your attention 24/7 – are you gonna COMPLAIN about it? “Ugh! Remember life before kids? The peace and quiet… the FREEDOM!?” Or will you, with Paul, REJOICE: “what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel”. These little savages are my MISSION field.
Maybe you’re chained to a HOSPITAL bed. You’re chained to a chemotherapy IV infusion once a week. Are you gonna complain about it? Or are you going to CHOOSE to believe, “Ya know: if God is perfectly SOVEREIGN – He’s in TOTAL control; NOTHING happens outside of His will – and yet He ALLOWED me to have this cancer, and now He’s FORCING me to come to this cold, sterile, scary, LIFE-less, JOY-less Oncology floor every week, I’m going to CHOOSE to believe that He must have a REASON for it.” And specifically, His reason MIGHT just be a divine APPOINTMENT with someone He wants me to share JESUS with!
Brothers and sisters: just imagine how much our lives – our OUTLOOKS, our perspectives on our circumstances, our suffering – would CHANGE DRAMATICALLY if every time we encountered trials in life, we STOPPED asking, “Why ME?” and we STARTED asking, “Who FOR?”
- “Alright, God, St. Luke’s ER, at 3 in the morning last week… that definitely wasn’t MY plan. But apparently it IS YOUR plan, Lord. And the only way I can make SENSE of it, is if there is SOMEONE here you want me to share JESUS with… so who IS it, Lord? Would you SHOW me; Who am I HERE for, in the Emergency Room?”
- “I didn’t WANT to take this job, with the pay cut and the longer commute. But God, if you let me lose the LAST one, and now you’ve brought me HERE, I guess there must be someone here who needs ME to be the one to reach them for Christ. Who am I HERE for, Lord?”
- “I didn’t WANT to get pulled over by this COP. But… “Officer: Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” TRY that next time you get pulled over (you may even avoid a TICKET, if he’s a CHRISTIAN…).
Church: do we, like Paul, view our TRIALS as opportunities to advance the gospel? The kitchen’s backed up, and your server keeps stopping by the table to apologize: is it an inconvenience, or an OPPORTUNITY, God tapping you on the shoulder: “Share the gospel with her!”?
Look at how Paul CHARACTERIZES it – his present “trial”, his incarceration – in v13; he says, “my imprisonment is for Christ.” Now he could just mean that “the reason I’m in chains is BECAUSE of Jesus”; we could understand the word “for” to mean “on account of”.
BUT… it is equally possible that Paul means “for the SAKE of”, “for the CAUSE of” Christ, and for the ADVANCE of his GOSPEL.
Is that how we talk about OUR OWN trials?
“My CANCER… is for CHRIST.”
“My BREAK-up… is for Christ.”
“My CAR accident… is for Christ.”
“My DEPRESSION, my ANXIETY… is for Christ,” that he might PROVE that His “GRACE is sufficient for [me], for [His] power is made perfect in [my] weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Cor 12:9-10)
Oh, and by the way, I think it’s safe to say that Paul was RIGHT in his appraisal that his imprisonment “really served to advance the gospel”, considering we wouldn’t HAVE this letter, the beautiful book of Philippians, WITHOUT it! As a matter of fact, we wouldn’t have almost a THIRD of Paul’s letters – Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians, or Philemon – if Paul hadn’t been locked up, and had the extra time to write. So I, for one, praise GOD, along WITH Paul, for his imprisonment!
And I PETITION God, for the faith to see my OWN trials for what they really are: not just personal inconveniences, but divine OPPORTUNITIES to live out my calling to be ambassador for Christ.
The SECOND this Paul teaches us about that calling here, is that (#2-) Others’ BOLDNESS provides motivation to advance the gospel. (v14)
If Paul’s JOYFULNESS about his OWN imprisonment in point #1 was paradoxical, consider now the “CONFIDENCE” it inspired in the surrounding Christian COMMUNITY; he informs us in v14 that, “most of the brothers, [Paul’s fellow believers] having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, [they] are much more BOLD [now] to speak the word [to share the gospel][g] without fear.”
The tiny word that makes that verse so shocking and counter-intuitive is “BY”; other believers have become BOLD, not “IN SPITE OF” Paul’s imprisonment… but BY it, “BECAUSE OF” his imprisonment, the NIV says.
Now how in the WORLD does THAT work?! Because when I see someone get arrested and locked up in chains, MY natural reaction is NOT to think, “Ooh, let ME try! You’re telling me that Paul’s in chains for “speaking the word BOLDLY”? Sign ME up!”
But there are TWO possible explanations here, for why Paul’s suffering would have actually MOTIVATED those around him to evangelistic BOLDNESS.
On the one hand, it’s possible that the Church had FEARED that the punishment for Paul’s preaching would be far WORSE. Such that they see him now in prison – and not even the gloomy, underground, RAT-infested, stuck-behind-BARS kind, but under HOUSE arrest – and they think, “That’s IT? Wow, I thought for SURE that they were gonna KILL Paul.” And of course eventually they would. But for NOW, it’s possible that his fellow Christians see Paul in his chains and think, “That’s not so bad. I mean after all, Jesus DID warn us that “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (Jn 15:20). And PAUL reminds us elsewhere, in Romans 8:17, that we are “fellow heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” And now that I actually SEE the suffering, Paul here in chains, it really could be WORSE.
But that leads us to the SECOND, and probably BETTER way of making sense of the motivation that they were drawing from Paul’s example: he was an INSPIRATION to the Church. It’s not necessarily that the suffering “isn’t that BAD”; because it IS that bad; chains aren’t FUN! …And YET… just look at Paul’s JOY nevertheless. They can take Paul’s freedom, even his LIFE, and yet they CANNOT take his JOY!
And isn’t it INSPIRING to watch someone SUFFER for a cause that is WORTHY of that suffering?
I think of Braveheart, and William Wallace enduring torture and then death for the cause of Scottish freedom, and how it INSPIRED the previously COWARDLY Robert the Bruce to finally lead the Scottish troops into battle: “You have BLED with WALLACE; now BLEED with ME.”
Or Dead Poet’s Society: “Oh Captain, my Captain”.
Or “I am Spartacus”.
Or the REAL LIFE example of the dramatic spike that the Navy experienced in applications to its aviation program just after the RELEASE of Top Gun. Because when you WATCH someone give their LIFE and if necessary, even their DEATH, to a cause that is DESERVING of it, you can’t help but be INSPIRED, can you?
Will you let the apostle Paul motivate that kind of confidence in YOU this morning? Embolden YOU to “speak the word without fear”, no matter WHAT. Heck, WE don’t even have to worry about getting locked UP for it! Not YET anyway; there MAY come a time when Christians in this country risk REAL persecution for our faith. But let’s not pretend that my NEIGHBORS not inviting us over to their neighborhood fourth of July party anymore, because I tried to share the gospel with them and now they feel like it’s AWKWARD and they’d rather our family just not be around… let’s don’t pretend like THAT is “PERSECUTION”. Like you not getting invited out to HAPPY hour anymore with your CO-workers, because you only have ONE drink and not THREE with them, and you refuse to partake in the office GOSSIP, in BAD-mouthing your BOSS behind his BACK, and they feel a little guilty, a little “JUDGED”, not because you’re PREACHING at them, but because your LIFESTYLE is a witness to the gospel, a CONVICTING witness; your co-workers experience the CONVICTION of the Holy SPIRIT, just by being in your PRESENCE, so they’d rather AVOID you – that kinda STINKS, but can we call it “PERSECUTION”?
Is it not the LEAST that we can “endure” for the cause of CHRIST, brothers and sisters, and for the advance of his gospel? Let Paul’s BOLDNESS MOTIVATE you this morning.
Let Jim Elliott’s. Many of you will already know his story. How at age 25, he left the comfort of his home here in the States and journeyed to the remote jungles of Ecuador, to take the gospel to the Quichua people who had never before met a Christian or heard the name of Jesus. Because as Elliot wrote in his diary:
““Surely those who know the great passionate heart of Jehovah must deny their own loves to share in the expression of His. Consider the call from the Throne above, ‘Go ye,’ and from round about, ‘Come over and help us,’ and even the call from the damned souls below, ‘Send Lazarus to my brothers, that they come not to this place.’ Impelled, then, by these voices, I dare not stay home while Quichuas perish. So what if the well-fed church in the homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses, and the Prophets, and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bank books and in the dust on their Bible covers. American believers have sold their lives to the service of Mammon, and God has His rightful way of dealing with those who succumb to the spirit of Laodicea.”
(quoted in DuVal, “Essentials #10: Missions”, Nov 14, 2021).
Church: THAT’s a man who found a cause WORTHY of living for!
And DYING for. Because at the tender age of 28, Elliot was KILLED by the very people he had labored to SAVE. But given the chance, Jim Elliot would do it all OVER again, because as HE saw it, as the apostle PAUL sees it, as our Lord JESUS sees it, “He is NO fool who gives up what he cannot KEEP, in order to GAIN what he cannot LOSE.”
Jim Elliot is enjoying his ETERNAL reward now, one he CANNOT lose, where “moths and rust can’t destroy”, because it is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading” (1 Pet 1:3), his HEAVENLY reward.
And one day, Church, we will too, as “fellow heirs with Christ”.
IF…. “provided that”… we suffer with him in order that we may be glorified with him.” But the converse is ALSO true: if we WON’T suffer with him, we DON’T suffer with Him, then we will NOT be glorified with Christ either.
Are you willing to SUFFER for the sake of Christ? For the advance of his gospel? Suffer some relational awkwardness, some social exclusion… to share Jesus with those who desperately NEED him.
Lastly, we are BOLD to share the gospel, because we can rest assured – God PROMISES! – that #3- Both Our AND Others’ FAILURES can be used BY HIM to advance the gospel. (vv15-18a)
Look back at vv15-18 with me: “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry”. Okay, WHO is that… and WHY is that?
Well, if we trace the antecedent of that word “some” back to v14, we realize that Paul’s actually referring here to “some… of the BROTHERS”. These aren’t FALSE teachers, they aren’t WOLVES in sheep’s CLOTHING; they are TRUE teachers of the GOOD news… but with BAD motives. “ILL WILL”. They preach CHRIST from “ENVY and RIVALRY”, “out of SELFISH AMBITION”, v17. Paul goes so far as to say these people are preaching for the purpose of “AFFLICT(ing) me in my imprisonment”.
Now listen: you better believe that the apostle Paul himself was COMPETITIVE. Paul kept count of how many converts he had baptized in the city of Corinth (1 Cor 1:17), Paul kept COUNT of how many beatings and shipwrecks and imprisonments he had suffered for Christ, and he wasn’t afraid to REMIND his churches of it, when they started drifting away and following false teachers instead (2 Cor 11). So when these poorly-motivated evangelists see the great PAUL now, seemingly getting BENCHED by God, and they see an opportunity to CATCH UP, on the STAT sheet, to win a few souls of their OWN – “Paul can only preach to 24 soldiers a DAY; WE can still go out in the market and preach to big CROWDS…” – I have to believe the reason Paul’s even MENTIONING this, that it’s “AFFLICT(ing)” him, is because he was so COMPETITIVE. Imagine what MJ felt, watching Hakim the Dream celebrate those two (SHAM) NBA titles, while Mike was sitting out in his prime!
And quick aside: there are WORSE things to get competitive about. We’ll let a PICKLEball loss RUIN our weekend, but we totally overlook a chance to share the GOSPEL with someone, and we don’t even NOTICE. The Church today could probably STAND for, we might be well-SERVED by just a little bit of COMPETITIVENESS when it comes to our evangelism. I WONDER if we kept a scoreboard out here in the foyer on Sundays – “Souls Won”, or “Souls PREACHED to” – I WONDER how it might CATALYZE our evangelism, for some of us. If my LIFE group held me accountable, and asked me every week, “Who’d you share the GOSPEL with this week?”, yeah, that’d make a difference.
Now, that can pretty quickly lead to “ENVY” and “RIVALRY” and “selfish AMBITION”, so we’re not gonna put the SCOREBOARD up. But here’s the POINT, Church:
If PAUL – and let’s state the case even more strongly: if GOD; because GOD inspired Paul to write these words – if THE LORD can look at the impure, ugly motives of these “preachers… of envy and selfish ambition” and say, “What then?” (or MY translation: “Big WHOOP!”)… So WHAT?! “As long as CHRIST is PROCLAIMED, I’m gonna REJOICE!” – if the Lord can and does still work through and USE even evangelism that is THAT wickedly MOTIVATED, a moral and SPIRITUAL failure of that magnitude, then I ASK you, brothers and sisters: What FAILURES of YOURS do you think God is NOT able to overcome in his mission to advance His GOSPEL?
*“But I’m not very SMART” – neither were the disciples. Read the Gospels; they were IDIOTS. Uneducated fishermen. And God turned the world upside down, and set it on FIRE with the gospel, through them.
“But I’m not a good COMMUNICATOR” – neither was MOSES. “I’LL be your mouth, Moses; “Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for it will be given to you” (Mt 10:19), by ME, Jesus promised. You just be obedient, and trust ME to be WITH you.
“But I’m not WINSOME… CHARMING enough” – Paul called people “dogs”; Jesus called them “a brood of vipers”; Christians don’t always get to win popularity contests. That’s not the CALLING. After all, you’re not WINNING them to YOU – YOUR magnetic personality, your wit and charisma… No, we’re trying to WIN them to CHRIST! And HE is MORE than captivating enough… the GOSPEL, the good news we proclaim ABOUT him is MORE than “good ENOUGH” to deserve their allegiance and their AFFECTION.
“But I’m not GENUINE enough. I don’t actually, consistently, PRACTICE what I PREACH. I’d feel like a HYPOCRITE telling them they need Jesus.” – Join the CLUB. I’m the President. Actually, PAUL is, he said, “I am CHIEF of sinners”. And YET, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”, just like me. And just like YOU. (1 Tim 1:15).
So Church, the only question left is: will we TELL them? Will you TAKE this good news, that Christ Jesus came to save sinners”… to the sinners in YOUR life, who need to HEAR it?
Your TRIALS are OPPORTUNITIES to share it.
Others’ BOLDNESS is our MOTIVATION (FUEL) to share it.
And even your FAILURES can’t stand in the WAY of God’s great PURPOSE to take this gospel to all the nations.
[[CONCLUSION]]: I mentioned in my intro that my kids had TWO things that confused them about Top Gun Maverick. The first was: “Who would sign UP for that?” But the SECOND was: “Dad, when are they finally gonna FIGHT?” Cuz ⅔ of the movie is TRAINING for the mission.
Church: training is great. I’m all for it. I was the first one to thumbs up the “Tactics” class that Mark and Jody and Aaron are teaching this fall (“A Gameplan for Discussing your Christian Convictions”); I think it’s GREAT, and I hope many of you are ATTENDING it [[at 9:00am]].
But Church: the time to FIGHT is NOW! Jesus didn’t leave us here to TRAIN, to “go and TRAIN to make disciples”… but to MAKE them!
So let’s DO it!
As He gives opportunity…
As He provides us motivation…
And TRUSTING that even our FAILURES cannot THWART God’s plans. Amen?
Let’s pray…