Stay On Mission 6th May 2018

4. Rejoice!
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And 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.
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 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 1:12-18

What do you like to do in order to be happy? For many people, even I guess many Christians, the things that we like to do to become happy are, for the most part, things that we get enjoyment from doing. This usually includes things like: A meal, a vacation, having nice things, often fare more than we need.
We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with messages that tell us that the pursuit of entertainment and material things is the way to happiness.
As I read these words from Paul, it appears that there is something very different that causes him to ‘Rejoice’ or ‘be deeply happy’.
He is clearly not writing this letter from an exotic coastal location, he is in prison! As a prisoner there cannot have been much in the way of entertainment and he would have owned no ‘nice’ things. Yet, he says: And because of this I rejoice. You may have read these words from Paul many times and become familiar with the fact that he wrote them from a prison cell but we shouldn’t forget just how amazing this is.

The thing that caused him to rejoice was that Christ is preached.

Paul’s life was a life that was dedicated to the mission of Jesus, to him the thing that mattered more than anything else was not his own personal happiness and satisfaction, it was that the gospel was being preached and that people were receiving the gift of eternal life. He had no distractions and no ‘things’ to weigh him down.
It would be very convenient if the Bible told us that it is possible to stay on Mission with Jesus and then live a life that is the same as the lives that are lived by people who don’t know Jesus. The reality is that when we make the things of this world our primary focus, then we find it almost impossible to join Jesus in His Mission because other things become more important to us.

As I write these words I am enormously challenged because they challenge so much of what is assumed as the ‘normal’ way for a follower of Jesus to live in the part of the world where I am from. I can offer no easy solution to this but feel that the only way we can be changed it to be open and transparent before God about the things that are most important to us. If these are not in line with His will then it is vital for us to be prepared to refocus our priorities.
To help you, this week, spend time with God and meditate on these words from a Psalm of David:

Test me, LORD, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love
and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness. Psalm 26:2,3