Because of this I rejoice

Philippians 1:12-18 (TNIV) -

12 Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.

14 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.
15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.

18 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.

My thoughts -

This is not what I would have written. This is not something I could have written. If I were in prison, first of all, I wouldn't be able to spin that into a positive like Paul does here. I don't have the kind of disposition that can "turn lemons into lemonade" or whatever. My lemons are turned into a pulpy mess against a wall having been thrown in anger and maybe stomped on.

Paul doesn't react to his imprisonment the way that I would, and we are all blessed by that. Maybe it's that he's got more experience with suffering. I have to say, however, that I do not envy him that. Maybe it's that he's just that much closer to God. While I would love to get closer to the heart of God and farther from my own sinful desires and selfishness I'd prefer to do so in a gentler manner, if at all possible. But here is Paul, in chains, AGAIN, and he's rejoicing. Not only is he rejoicing in spite of his chains he seems to be rejoicing BECAUSE of them. Why? Because Christ is preached.

Paul is glad that the prison guards can see that he is there for Christ. Paul is happy that his imprisonment seems to have emboldened fellow believers to share the Gospel of Christ. And here's the part that gets me. Paul is almost giddy that people are preaching even if motivated by "envy and rivalry". Why? Because even in that Christ is being preached.

If some opportunist exploited my suffering for person gain I'd plot revenge. Paul, instead, rejoices. Jesus can redeem anything, even our own sinful motivations. Paul doesn't care WHY Jesus is preached, he merely cares THAT Jesus is preached. This seems to run counter to Paul's dealings with the churches in Corinth over their acceptance of a false gospel. My guess is that Paul only has issue with the motivation for the message here and not the message itself, which means that Paul doesn't have issue at all.

As I said, this is not what I would have written. It's not how I would have felt. It's not how I would have responded. I'd be angrily plotting my revenge while Paul is happily rejoicing. I guess I have a lot of work left to do.