Advancing the Gospel
October 15, 2007
Dear Friends,
The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the brethren at Philippi in which he makes the following comment:
Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. (Phil 1:12-14 NIV)
In this short passage, we are given a brief lesson in theodicy. Theodicy is the study or explanation of how an all-powerful, all-loving God can co-exist with evil. Paul sets forth here two primary purposes for his being in jail. First, the palace guard and others have been exposed to the Gospel thought his imprisonment. Second, the brethren became emboldened to preach through Paul’s suffering. These two reasons are advanced by Paul as the purpose with his trial.
What is interesting and instructive for us is that Paul does not mention anywhere that he is the primary or even secondary beneficiary of his trial. What happens so often is that when bad things happen to us we seek to know what the trial has to do with us. Doing so in not a bad practice at all, but can be frustrating when we cannot find the answer in our own lives. We take to heart that the Scripture teaches “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” but fail sometimes to see that the good that is being worked may not be in our own lives but in the lives of others.
Paul does not have such a limited view of his suffering. His suffering serves a higher purpose in which he is only a prop for God’s greater work – advancing the Gospel. Paul goes on to say in verse sixteen that “I am put here for the defense of the gospel.” He goes on to say “Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice.”(v. 18) Not only was Paul resigned to his fate, he rejoiced in it because he saw the greater good being accomplished through his suffering.
This amazing selflessness on the part of the Apostle is also part of how Christ is being preached. Imagine if Paul remained in prison enduring his trial but was sulking, depressed, complaining, anxiety-ridden or angry at his predicament. The efforts to advance the Gospel would be thwarted in this instance, would they not? The opportunity would be there, but the actions of the recipient of this trial would have nullified the benefit that could accrue to others through Paul’s trial.
Our exhortation this week is very simple. The key to our success in trials in this life is not that we get through them, but HOW we get through them. The benefit of the trial might be to us or it might be to someone else. We need not worry about the result as much as how we think and act during the trial. If we live as Christ would have us live in the face of adversity, we are advancing the Gospel and that is all that really matters.
Have a great week,
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