Paul’s Strange Rejoicing

1:18a What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice

We have before us in this verse a very strange joy. Paul is rejoicing that Christ is being preached, whether by those who do it sincerely or by those who do it with evil motives. We can understand that the great missionary apostle would rejoice that Christ was being preached, but it baffles us that he would rejoice even in those who preach Christ "from envy and strife" (v.16) and "out of selfish ambition" (v.17).

On the one hand, we must not take this interpretation too far. Elsewhere Paul soundly condemns those who preach a different gospel than he preaches (e.g. Gal.1:8-9). That could not be what he’s talking about here. These people must be preaching the same gospel as Paul (at least essentially), but they are preaching it out of evil motives.

On the other hand, we find here a lesson we very much need to learn: that there must be room for tolerance of other Christians who don’t like you, or who have some kind of a problem with you. Paul certainly wasn’t pleased that there people were motivated by selfish ambition and not by love, but this didn’t necessarily make them wolves in his mind. W olves devour the sheep; this seems rather something more in line with sheep stealing. For Paul, recognizing the negative didn’t mean erasing the positive.

The trend today among Christians , it seems to me, is to be too tolerant. Things are being accepted that should be soundly condemned. This is the strong current of our society right now, and Christians are getting sucked along. But whenever you have a strong current in one direction, you will find that some go to the opposite extreme. I think this verse warns us against a mentality that condemns anyone that is not in our Christian group. We have to be able to rejoice in the work God is doing even in places where we would never go ourselves. The gospel is not ours, it is God’s.

But there is something more profound than this going on here. What drove Paul to this strange rejoicing? What makes him able to rejoice in something that we would think would make him grieve? (Is it not natural to be distressed whenever someone does something to spite you?) Was it not his passion for the spread of the gospel? He could overlook bad motives if only Christ was being preached. And why was it such a source of joy for Paul that Christ was being preached? Was it not because he understood the power and the glory of this heavenly message? Was it not because he had such an ardent delight in the gospel itself?

Is it not apparent that there is a message so wonderful, so magnificent that Paul can rejoice in its spread even if there’s a problem with the spreader?

And is it not clear that the power of the gospel is not limited by the integrity of the evangelist, that God is not held back by the fickle motivations of men, that the message itself is so surpassingly marvelous that it can burst through the barrier of a sinful messenger?

Lord, I so easily lose sight of the glory of the gospel. I am so unimpressed by something that is so spectacularly impressive. Lord, I want to be a man who walks in the freshness and vitality of the gospel. I want my passion for the gospel to transcend my territorialism and my timidity and my dullness of spirit and my love of self. By Your Spirit’s power, Lord, fill me with the joy of the gospel and move me to view others as those in dire need of this same fullness.