Philippians 1.15-17

Yesterday, we saw how having the perspective of kingdom citizens sees situations different than the perspective of this world. I talked about how Paul addresses four different situations that could be seen from different perspectives, and they are as follows:

1. Imprisonment (1.12-14)
2. False Motive Preaching (1.15-17)
3. Life or Death (1.18-26)
4. Suffering (1.27-30)

Yesterday, we saw how according to the perspective of kingdom citizens, Paul's imprisonment has actually served to advance the Gospel, to advance God's kingdom to some very important individuals. Now we are going to look at the second situation and see how we can look at it from a kingdom citizen perspective.

¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. ¹⁶ The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. ¹⁸ But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

There are two groups addressed here in this passage. The good motive preachers and the bad motive preachers. Apparently there were a group of people preaching about Jesus for their own selfish gain. Paul says that the reason they were preaching was to stir up trouble for Paul while he was in prison. There are two kinds of affliction that he could be talking about.

The first is psychological affliction. These guys could be trying to get a lot of converts while Paul is in prison, making him jealous that they are advancing the kingdom and he isn't. 

The second type of affliction that they could be trying to stir up for Paul is physical affliction. They might think that if they preach about Jesus all over Rome, the Romans will get upset and take out their frustration by beating Paul, the leader of the Christians. 

Basically, these guys really might have some very impure motives about preaching the gospel. There is a reason that they should be brought up. They are preaching about Jesus for their own benefit. 

They are like those TV Evangelists or preachers who just want to get rich off of Jesus. They should be stopped right?

Look at what Paul says:

But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.

What?

That's not how I see it.

Yet, we have to look at things from a different perspective. 

The fact of the matter is, if their message is correct, Christ is still being proclaimed. 

Let me ask you a question...if someone accepts Jesus after hearing a sermon from someone who had bad motives, are they saved?

The answer is yes. 

And that is why Paul can say he rejoices when Christ is preached.

This does not mean for us to allow incorrect doctrine or theology to be preached. Paul has some strong words about that in Galatians 1.8-9. But it does mean that if the message is correct, the Gospel is being advanced. 

Yet, this doesn't mean we shouldn't care about our own motives. We see in Philippians 2 that we are told to "Do nothing out of selfish ambition." 

But this is looking at things from a different perspective.