What Matters Most to Paul

The Apostle Paul:

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.

The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. (Philippians 1:15-18)

Writing from his own experience, he sees two groups with two very different sets of motives when preaching:

from envy
from good will


out of rivalry
out of love


to afflict
with sincerity


in pretense
in truth

Having godly motives is a huge deal for Paul. He would agree that without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb. 12:14).

But his focus here is not on the eternal state of those who proclaim truth but without truth-in-love. Rather, I think he's taking to heart the powerful words of Jesus who shifting Peter's perspective by asking, "What is that to you? You follow me!"

In modern evangelicalism we tend to think that intention is more important that the truth. Paul would say that both are absolutely important—but in terms of how it affects him, he is simply going to rejoice that there is truth being proclaimed. At the end of the day, Paul cares more about the advancement of the gospel than how he is treated and what people think of him. And he can not only "live with" a proclamation of the gospel designed to increase the whip marks on his already lacerated back, but he is determined to "rejoice" in this (cf. Phil. 4:4).

Paul also applies this Christ-centered paradigm to the church when he expresses exasperation about the lawsuits in the church of Corinth. Without minimizing the importance of justice or the complex nuances sometimes involved with the ethics of lawsuits among Christians, I think it's a lamentable thing that more of us are at not least asking Paul's questions:

"Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?" (1 Cor. 6:7).

Protection of reputation is an important thing. But it's not an ultimate thing. I want to pray that my mindset reflects God in Christ, through the Holy Spirit, at the absolute center of my worldview—including how I am treated and perceived.