So Long as Christ is Preached

‘The important thing is that…Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.’ (Phil. 1:15-18)

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Paul in Prison

Paul’s imprisonment had been an incentive to preach. That incentive worked in two ways. There were those who loved him and, when they saw him in prison, they redoubled their efforts to spread the gospel, so that it would lose nothing because of Paul’s imprisonment. They knew that the best way to delight his heart was to see that the work did not suffer because of his unavoidable absence. But others were moved by selfish ambition and self-seeking; they were out to advance themselves and did not care what methods they stooped to in order to reach their goals. So there were also those who preached harder now that Paul was in prison, for his imprisonment seemed to present them with an opportunity to advance their own influence and reputation, and lessen his.

What about us?

There is a lesson here for us. Paul was not affected by personal jealousy or by personal bitterness. So long as Jesus Christ was preached, he did not care who received the credit and the prestige. He did not care what other preachers said about him, how unfriendly they were to him, how disrespectful they were of him, or how they tried to gain an advantage over him. All that mattered was that Christ was preached. All too often we resent it when someone else gains a prominence or a recognition which we do not. Sometimes we regard a person as an enemy because they have expressed criticism of us or of our methods. All too often we think other people can do no good because they don’t do things in our way.

Paul is a great example, he lifted the matter beyond all personalities; all that mattered was that Christ was preached.

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Andy Tugwell, The Church of God in Swindon