"You are now free to move about the country" Philippians 1.15-18

You are now free to move about the country— Philippians 1.15-18

…’One of the clever advertising lines of Southwest Airlines.  But it also might have been the feeling of some of Paul’s contemporaries when Paul was held captive in Rome.  In the preceding few verses, Paul commented that the Gospel was still being preached, though he was unable to move from town to town himself.  However, Paul is certainly no one’s fool—he is well aware that some who stepped forward to preach while he could not, did so out of impure motives. 

“It’s true that some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. They preach because they love me, for they know I have been appointed to defend the Good News.  Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me.  But that doesn’t matter. Whether their motives are false or genuine, the message about Christ is being preached either way, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice.”  Philippians 1.15-18

Oh, you’ gotta love Paul.  Astute enough to see the opportunists pounce on their big chance to gain influence with the people, since he was no longer able to ‘move about the country’—yet, able to rejoice because, in spite of their motives, the good news of the Gospel was still being preached. 

Paul never campaigned to be the emperor, but rather, called himself the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.  All that mattered to Paul was that the work of the cross--the freedom available to all through the free grace of God--was taught.  This same Paul had written to the church at Corinth, “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible…To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews… To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”1

Note that those to whom Paul was referring (while he was captive in Rome) were preaching the gospel: that Jesus had come, (as the fulfillment of the prophecies of old), lived, taught, loved, and died willingly on the Cross, a perfect sacrifice for our sins, once and for all; he rose from the grave, and ascended into Heaven, to sit again at the right hand of God the Father.  He has commented on the motive of the opportunists who tried to gain notoriety while he was incarcerated, not their message. 

If the message is right, that is what matters most to Paul.  If the cause of Christ is going forward, that is the important thing.  That is no different for us today; whether some sit, others kneel, some sing hymns, others sing contemporary worship songs … what difference does it make?  They are worshiping Jesus Christ, Man!  Let the rest go.

Today we see profiteers in the Gospel ‘business’, don’t we?   Radio preachers who seem to have made a lot of money from their ministries . . . similarly, there are some televangelists who seem to be ‘raking it in’ … but what I hear Paul saying is … as long as they are teaching the truth of the Gospel, let the rest go.  Oh sure, from my perspective, some of them fall into the ‘prosperity gospel’ crowd—sometimes peddling that God wants Christians to be materially prosperous—but if others are coming to know Christ from the Scriptures they are teaching, then He will sort the rest out with those preachers.  Let it go, Man!  Truly, only God can and should judge both the contents and the intent of our hearts. 

Keep in mind one thing: God said of his word, “It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”2  I view that as a powerful promise actually.  It is my part to deliver and share the Word of God; it is the Holy Spirit’s part to do the supernatural work in prompting hearts to hear and receive that word, and to show us how to apply it to our lives.  It is a marvelous thing when God brings truths from Scripture into our minds, just when needed most.  Have you had that happen?  You have, if you are a student of his Word, and it is a beautiful thing.  Yes, the Word is alive and active, Mr. Hebrews!

And you?  Well, you are now free to move about the country, and share the good news!

Grace and Peace,

Christine

PastorWoman.com