The circumstances are NOT the main thing

Philippians 1:12-20

PHILIPPIANS 1 - - THE SINGLE MIND  or  CIRCUMSTANCES CAN ROB JOY

This section of chapter one begins with what I consider to be the key verse to this chapter.  "But I would ye should understand brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel." 

Paul was addressing his personal circumstances, terrible as they were.  Remember that he was the great and dreaded Saul before his conversion. Any agent of the Roman government knew exactly who Saul was and knew exactly how much he had done to persecute these Christians.  I have always had the sense that he was like a living legend worse than any pirate or henchman.  He had had the single focus of obliterating these Christians.  When he met Christ and converted, he had so much to live down from the human standpoint.  For this same man to now be in prison for preaching the very gospel he had worked so hard to destroy was BIG news in that day!

Verse 13 tells us that everyone in the palace was talking about Paul being in the prison and what he had done to get there.  And it isn't too much of a stretch to say that everyone everywhere was talking about this and trying to understand it.  The arrest, the beating, the imprisonment with its deplorable conditions, were all things that Paul could have been despairing about.  But he had the single focus of deflecting the attention from himself to Christ.  He said every single part of this was worth it because if people were talking about it, they were actually talking about the gospel.

He goes on in this passage to describe how some people began preaching with more boldness.  But then he also describes that some people began preaching with envy and strife.  Some of them actually preached hoping to make it worse on Paul.  I have often struggled to understand this part of the chapter. I couldn't imagine someone preaching the gospel out of strife.  But I think I can picture it this way . . .

My husband preaches the Word of God and does not back down from giving a clear presentation of salvation or from addressing sin.  There are some TV preachers who talk about being a follower of Christ but who never talk about repentance.  It is easy to see that people would come to know the Savior in the setting of hearing the straight talk of the Bible.  But there really are people who have gotten saved while listening to a TV preacher.  Most of these "tel-evangelists" have the reputation (deserved or not) that they are in it for the money and the prestige.  They are criticized for having a soft and flowery view of the Christian life.  But at least some of them are presenting enough of the Word of God that the Holy Spirit of God can speak to hearts and people can come to a conversion.

Isaiah 55:10-11  "For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from Heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:  So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:  it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing wherto I sent it."

How do we apply this lesson to our lives today and to the idea of having a single mind?  James 3:16 says that "...where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work."  The single mind of God is the gospel.  It has nothing to do with the instruments chosen to deliver it.

Our church has recently had two different men come and sing for us.  One has a very polished style and sings with gusto!  The other is a cowboy singer with a simpler style and a more mellow delivery.  Both of these men sing to the glory of God.  As the audience we can compare these two styles and prefer one over the other even to the point of criticism.  And then we will become aggressive or judgmental in our conversations.  Perhaps it will even get to the point of being defensive of our favorite style.  But the heart that has the single focus of spreading the gospel will be able to "keep the main thing the main thing."  We absolutely should decide if the message is clear in each case, but aside from that we must not be distracted by the differences of the the presentation.

One piano player is not not better than another piano player in God's eyes if they are both playing for His glory.  One teacher is not guiding his students better than another because of the tie he wears or the color of his Bible.  One singer is not more spiritual because of he has training and another singer is not less spiritual because he does not have training.  We must keep our hearts from competing and we must not be caught up with the details of the "package."  Our focus should be the gospel of Christ and then all these other circumstantial things will not draw us into contention.  "Keep the main thing the main thing" and you will see the beauty of the Lord in all things!

SONG: "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus"