Verses 12-13
Paul begins verse 12 with this phrase, ‘I want you to know…” meaning ‘I want you to clearly understand.. I don’t want you to be misled or confused about my current situation.’ Paul knew that there were many who had questions and concerns about him being in prison. How was he doing? What is going on? And Paul is saying, ‘I want to address your concerns so you fully understand how God is at work in my circumstances.’
What Paul is doing here for the Philippians is not only is he addressing their concerns and giving them an update on his situation but he is going to help them maintain a Gospel-centered perspective on life. I think it is interesting that he doesn’t begin his update by talking about his physical condition. Or what the conditions of his imprisonment are like. But Paul responds in a manner that once again reveals what is most important in his life. He responds out of how he views life and how lives life.
And we know how Paul lives: ‘For me to live is Christ” And so he is saying ‘let me tell you how my current circumstances are impacting the work of Christ.’
This response from Paul is an important one for us to observe because the trials of this life often reveal our true character. They reveal what we really value. They reveal what we have set our heart upon. They reveal how we define what it means to truly live.
Paul writes in verse 12, “what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.” Because I am a prisoner (Paul says) those who are guarding me know that my imprisonment is because am a follower of Jesus Christ. My testimony has been become clear among the imperial guard.
The Imperial Guard that he mentions was also known as the Preatorian Guard, a small unit of elite soldiers who often protected the Roman Senators or Roman Emporers. These were soldiers who had authority. These were soldiers who had influence. These were people that Paul in his everyday life would not have had an audience with. They wouldn’t have given this Jewish missionary the time of day but now Paul is chained to them night and day. Some biblical commentators say these soldiers most likely took 6-hour shifts guarding and being chained to Paul. And so every day Paul was getting multiple audiences as he was sharing his testimony of the Gospel of Christ.
And so Paul says, I want you to know dear friends that what has happened to me (the trials, the hardships, the persecution) has allowed the Gospel to advance in an unlikely place among the elite of the Roman Guards. It is an incredibly testimony from the Paul.
I think one of the challenges for us is that when we read an account like this and it can become easy for Paul to simply become a Bible character and Philippians chapter 1 simply becomes a Bible story. And there is a disconnect between Paul’s life and our life. That is just stuff that happens to Paul. And yet the same thing that Paul was called to as a Believer in Jesus Christ is the same thing we are called to—to live for Christ in all circumstances.
And so how does the reality of Paul that ‘for him to live is Christ, for him to be imprisoned is Christ, for him to suffer is Christ’ become our reality as followers of Christ. Every single one of us has circumstances that we are going through right now at some level that is challenging for us or difficult for us or simply circumstances that we would prefer not to be in.
And the question for us should not necessarily be “God, why am in this” but rather ‘God, what are doing to further your work in these circumstances.” See, this gets back to our question, ‘What is my life really about?” Because if my life is ultimately about my family and there is something that disrupts my family life then I am going to do whatever it takes to get my family life like back to “normal” so that my life can be back to normal. Or if my life is ultimately about my work, my achievements, accomplishing my goals and something disrupts that I am going to do whatever I can do to get my work life back to normal so that my life can be back to normal.
But if my life is about Christ and furthering the Gospel of Christ then my life is not about saying, “God, why is my life disrupted right now but rather how will the work of Christ be furthered right now.”
And that can be a difficult shift for us to make.
Just because we place our faith in Christ and we become a new creation in Christ doesn’t automatically mean our life reflects the words “for me to live is Christ.”
In Luke 9:23 Jesus makes this statement about what it looks like to live for Christ. He said “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” That is not a method of salvation, but rather is a statement of how we are to live as followers of Jesus.
Jesus is giving us a picture of how a disciple of Jesus lives daily. A disciple says “I recognize that my identity is in Christ, my life is not my own, I will live today for Christ. Whatever circumstances comes my way it is for Christ to be known. It is for the will of Christ to be accomplished in me and through me.
As Christians, we must recognize that we live for something that is different than what the world lives for.
And yet, as Christians many times we never make that shift. We never deny ourselves and take up our cross, we simply continue to walk the same way the world walks. Our life focus becomes about our family, our work, our hobbies, staying safe, being happy. We can find ourselves with the same pursuits and priorities as the world. We just live it out under the banner of Christian.
And yet Paul recognized because of his identity in Christ–the purpose of his life, the pursuit of his life was different.
Listen to Paul’s words from Acts 20:24, “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus–the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.”
I think for most of us if we found ourselves in prison we would probably think our life has hit rock bottom. Our life has hit a dead end. Our life has stopped. We would be away from our family and friends. We would no longer be pursuing our work, our hobbies or our dreams. We would no longer have access to the things that give us pleasure or enjoyment.
And yet Paul is able to be a prisoner here in Philippians chapter 1 and still see the passion of his life fulfilled because his passion is about the Gospel of Christ. He can be in chains and still find joy, have good things to report because those guarding him are hearing the Gospel.
That is a different kind of life. That is counter-cultural even to the typical Christian life.
When we look at Paul’s life—and we say he just lived a different life, he just had a different outlook—I don’t think it was because he truly was different. I think it is because today our lives as Christians are too often different from what we were called to. “To deny ourselves and take up our cross daily.” Paul lived those words. I think too often we struggle to comprehend what that really means to live that out.
I think before we too quickly read a passage like this and just say well those are things that happen to Paul, it should cause us to examine our own attitude and our own outlook. It should cause us to say, “Do I have such a Gospel-centered perspective that when I go through trials I am more concerned about the work of Christ in those trials then whatever is going on in my own stuff.”
I think Paul understood that the life we are called to as followers of Jesus is counter-cultural to the life that we know in the flesh. The reason Jesus has to say “deny yourself” because our instinct in our sin nature isn’t to deny ourselves. And so Paul recognizes his life is also a model for other Christians on what it looks like to live out this sacrificial life for the sake of the Gospel.
Verse 14
I think when we read this passage we can read it with very little sense of Paul experiencing suffering and persecution. But we have to remember Paul was a prisoner. That alone was not a pleasant experience. And then I would imagine that not every soldier that was guarding Paul or chained to Paul wanted to hear what he had to say about this man named Jesus.
I imagine the some of those soldiers communicated to Paul in a very blunt and direct and physical way to be quiet. But Paul did speak and the whole imperial guard knew that Paul served a Messiah and Savior named Jesus Christ. Paul said the Gospel was advancing. It wasn’t being stifled. It wasn’t being shutdown. It was going forth. And Christians were hearing about the boldness of Paul and it was giving them boldness to speak.
That is what the testimonies of others does. It spurs us on. It encourages us. It strengthens us.
It reminds us to what we are called to.
As we hear testimonies of Christians living out the Gospel not only is it an encouragement that the Gospel is going forth but it should also be a reminder, “is that happening in my life?” Am I proclaiming the Gospel, am I coming alongside a younger believer helping them become rooted in the Gospel.
Testimonies from others not only encourage us that God is at work but they remind us that God wants to be at work in me too.
As moms who are busy raising kids and living out the Gospel in their home and in the sphere of influence, they need to be sharing those stories with other moms to spur other moms As students are living out the Gospel in their schools they need to be sharing that with other students. As men and women share how they are advancing the Gospel in their workplace, it encourages others in their workplace.
Through our verbal testimony, through life testimony we allow others around us to be bold. We give them courage to enter into relationships around them for the sake of the Gospel. When Paul boldly testifies to the hope of Jesus Christ, he is showing for everyone this is what it looks like to live out the Gospel.
I am in chains and yet I testify. I am a prisoner and yet I proclaim the truth of God.
And people saw the advancement of the Gospel in a very unexpected Paul—in prison through the imperial guard. It should cause us to say if the Gospel went forth in a prison maybe the Gospel could go forth in my neighborhood. Maybe it could go forth in my school. Maybe God has you in an unexpected place in your life so that the Gospel may go forth in a very unexpected way.
Verses 15-18
Paul tells us also there were some who of hearing how Paul was actually developing an audience with these very influential and powerful soldiers and guards; and Paul’s reputation was growing and the Gospel was advancing through him some became envious of his ministry. And their motivation for preaching the Gospel was for their own gain and their own reputation. They wanted to have the ministry and reputation that Paul had.
This is one of the very disheartening parts of the Christian life and in Christian ministry. Selfishness can enter into our lives as we can find ourselves becoming rivals instead of partners in the Gospel.
When we deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Christ, God is going to use us in different ways. We all can have the privilege of sharing in the work of Christ but God is not going to accomplish that in the same way with every person. Some will stand before kings and proclaim the Gospel. Others will stand before prisoners and proclaim the Gospel. Each one living out the work that God has called him or her to accomplish.
But it can become easy to compare ourselves with others. It can be easy to say ‘God why can’t you use me like you are using them.’
I think it is interesting that these people were becoming envious that Paul was seeing the fruit of the Gospel in prison. I imagined for those who were jealous of Paul that if they had been put in prison it would have led to them being in despair agonizing over ‘why would God allow me to be in prison’ instead of recognizing the opportunity God has given them.
The Gospel-centered person doesn’t look for the stage and the spotlight for them to proclaim but they simply live out the hope they have through the circumstances they are in.
And a Gospel-centered person will also respond the way Paul responds to their selfishness in preaching the Gospel. He actually rejoices because the Gospel is being preached. That is a different kind of life.