What Does It Matter? (Philippians 1)

“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.”

(Philippians 1:18)

Let’s review Philippians 1:12-18 today. Paul wrote the following to the believers at Philippi: “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel”. What happened to Paul was imprisonment. Due to his boldness in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul found himself locked away in chains.

How prophetic is it that Paul roamed free when he chose to imprison Christians, but when he became a follower of Christ, he too became a prisoner? This prophecy was given to Ananias in Acts 9 when Paul was Saul—when Paul was still a devout Jew who persecuted believers of Christ. But Saul met Christ on the road to Damascus, and Saul became blinded by the brilliant glory of Christ shining upon him. Therefore, Jesus appointed Anaias to restore Saul’s sight, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:15-16)  

So, when we read about Paul suffering by being imprisoned in the Book of Philippians, we are reading prophecy. Jesus proclaimed that Paul would suffer, and recorded here in Philippians, Paul is enduring persecution just as Christ said. Nonetheless, Paul believed that his suffering was not only confirmation of Jesus’s words, but it was also for the advancement of God’s kingdom. “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel … because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” (Philippians 1:12,14)

Paul’s imprisonment made everyone else want to preach the gospel all the more. A secular example of this came to my mind—one of worldly loyalty. Often, when a leader of a criminal organization is imprisoned, the outside members will rally together to ensure that the operation does not fall. They tend to do this out of loyalty and honor for their leader … and sometimes for money and other ulterior motives. Movies and sitcoms with storylines around drugs and gangs reveal that when the leader of their tribe falls, they are motivated to continue business as usual. Sometimes, the leader is shown to still have eyes on the streets and ears on the ground. The leader is shown as being aware of what his posse is or is not doing.

This is what we see with Paul and the early believers. Although Paul was locked away, the outsiders were motivated to continue in the gospel. Paul’s imprisonment was prophetic; therefore, it only confirmed to the believers at Philippi that Jesus was indeed real and that the mission of the gospel was one of importance. So, due to Paul’s chains, the Philippians spread the gospel even more.

A quick modern-day application from this text is this: Sometimes your chains are for the freedom of others. If Paul had not been locked away, the Philippians would not have been free to speak boldly. Paul also wrote this in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Our chains, our suffering, can aid someone else when they are suffering. Yet, we cannot help anyone through their suffering if we do not share our testimonies of suffering with others. Revelation 12:11 tells us that we overcome the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. So, it is fitting to show others the shackles you have been in or the chains you are currently in so that someone else may overcome—so that someone else can be free.

Interestingly enough, although Paul’s chains advanced the kingdom, everyone who aided in the advancement wasn’t sincere. “The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.” (v.17). This is a truth that we must know and accept. Everyone who preaches truth is not living in truth. Often people preach Christ but do not live according to His standard… their mouths proclaim Him, but their hearts are far from Him.

Paul confirms this. Some preached Christ only to burden Paul. Their motives were off, evil, even demonic (See James 3:14-15). Many people fall away from God because they discover that leaders within the church are hypocrites. They turn away from fellowship with other followers because it’s revealed that some self-proclaimed followers’ hearts are not right with God.

It can be disappointing when we discover that someone we thought was a legitimate man or woman of God is a fraud. However, since the beginning of Christianity, people have preached Christ with unchanged hearts. Unfortunately, this is not a new concept. It existed before us, it exists now, and it will exist when we are long gone. Some … many communicators of the gospel have selfish ambitions. Many gospel preachers, teachers, and leaders in Christianity are hypocrites with ill intentions. But this is what Paul thought of those corrupt Christians:

“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.”

(Philippians 1:18)

What does it matter? Paul declared that it didn’t matter if those who spread the gospel had pure hearts or not. All that mattered was that Christ was preached. This is not to say that those hypocrites would not be judged for their evil deeds. But it is to say that the truth was preached regardless of whether they lived in truth or not.

If a robber tells a murderer that he is wrong for murdering others, isn’t the robber telling the truth? The truth is the truth, no matter who the messenger may be. Yes, the truth may be better received if it came from someone who also walked in truth. But the message of truth does not change just because it derives from someone false.

So, then, if we receive truth from someone who is unchanged, and we do not change based on the truth that they have given, we will be judged by God for neglecting the truth. When we stand before God, we cannot point our fingers at the messenger of truth and say that we did not follow truth because the messenger did not live in truth. We will all be judged, but let us not be rebuked by God for someone else’s hypocritical ways.

Because at the end of the day, what does it matter? What do their evil ways have to do with our good living? What do their unclean hearts have to do with God cleaning our hearts? It doesn’t matter. Christ is preached, and truth is given regardless of how others live. Let us work out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). We will only be held accountable for what we do with the truth we are given, not the vessel from which the truth came.

Dear reader, that is all I have for you today. Remember to let your chains free someone else by giving your testimony, and avoid having false motives when sharing Christ with others.  But if someone else’s heart is unwell when giving you the truth, do not rebuke the truth. Be guided by God in rebuking sin and possibly finding different leadership and/or Christian communities if needed. But do not refuse the truth, no matter who gives it. Because ultimately, what does it matter? Who gives the truth will not matter in the end. It will only matter that the truth was given and that the truth was received.

I pray this message has blessed you and that you will apply it to your life as God sees fit. Until next time, God bless you and keep you. Take care.

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Thanks for your time!

Sincerely,

Quin Arrington