Joy, Togetherness, & Jerks: Getting Our Story Straight ~ Philippians 1:12-19

This week as I have wrestled with Paul writing from a Roman jail cell I was reminded of another letter by a Christian writing from jail. I’m thinking of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail written to “white moderate Christians” who called Martin’s activities “unwise and untimely,” harassing him and failing to stand up against the sin of racism all the while proclaiming Jesus is Lord. 

And as I read both letter’s together, heard both Christian’s testimony about following Jesus, grappled with my own false motives, a strange thing happened – I became “more confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear.” And that’s been my prayer for you this week. That nothing less than the gospel of God’s kingdom would be manifest in our lives.

          1.    To be a disciple, “in Christ,” is to know a story that others need to know.

Paul bookends our passage today by advocating the sharing of “knowledge.” “Now I want you to know . . . what has happened to me . . . As a result, it has become clear . . . for I know.” And that knowledge has everything to do with his ability to “rejoice” while being chained, in prison. This is “earned knowledge,” street wisdom, a careful reflection on life experiences in light of the Gospel.

Public speech that is honest and empowering is rare but sorely needed in our world. In testimony, people speak truthfully about what they have experienced and seen, offering it to the community for the encouragement of everyone. The Black church’s practice of testimony offers insights on matters that concern everyone who seeks a life that is filled with “good-will,” “love,” and “truth.”

And what is this knowledge? It’s the personal recognition (“I want you to know”) that Jesus can make anything better. Jesus can twist anything – even prison chains – to work for our deliverance (vs. 19). It’s the story shared amidst family that the gospel brings hope and joy that neither prisons nor people can take away. We need to recapture this practice of sharing what we know: that life is stronger than death, people by God’s Spirit can change, that God can make productive use of pain and is worthy of our thanks and praise. Testimony doesn’t shy away from telling the truth about ourselves and God. It’s why I talk about my divorce all the time and share that I have a child who struggles terribly with mental illness. We need stories in the present that reassure us that salvation is, that joy can be had in this life, so that we can discern the right thing to do. We must talk about the hard and Jesus, the chains and God, because that’s where Jesus loves to show up. So this week – tell one story to someone about Jesus and your chains. It’s those stories which will make others “confident” and “without fear.” Then Christ will truly be preached.

2.    You should love the sinner – they’re family.

Vss. 15-18 form a double chiasm (a crisscross structure) that binds two kinds of behaviors, two kinds of Christians, together:

	a	b
Vs. 15	envy	good will
	b	a
Vs. 16-17	love	selfish ambition
	a	b
Vs. 18a	pretense	truth

Here the Apostle will describe two kinds of Christians who engage in two kinds of preaching. And he seeks to promote the one and admonish the other, all the while recognizing that either way “Christ is preached.” A lot of ink has been spilled to trying to determine the actual position or content of Paul’s detractors. I won’t bore you with the options because we simply don’t know and it’s speculative. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t critical things that we can’t learn.

What are we to make of this? How should we then behave as a “family,” that is “in Christ” and yet apparently capable of treating each other poorly? What does it mean to treat sin as a family problem?

First, Paul reminds us that Christians can be real jerks.  We don’t know who this group is that Paul is writing about but he makes it clear that such people do exist even within the Christian community.  So we should not be taken by surprise when they arise in our midst. By the way, we’ve all been there (on both sides). If it’s not a question of “if” but “when” then we should pay attention and regularly confess our sin and failures for treating another poorly. The clearest means for telling our story must always begin with the love of God and our sins. 

Second, the one in chains gets to determine who’s the jerk. Often in churches, battle lines get drawn with competing stories. I dare say Paul’s detractors probably didn’t recognize themselves as the “bad guys” or “trouble-makers.” No, they probably saw Paul that way and believed themselves to be in the right. So which stories do we listen to? How do we know who’s right as we discern how to best follow Jesus? Well, we should look for “chains,” “good-will,” “love,” and “truth.” Preaching Jesus isn’t enough – the “how” is a critical component for determining who is in the right. We must give space for the stories of those experiencing suffering, particularly when that suffering comes at the hands of others. We must privilege the stories of those in chains. It is no coincidence that the New Testament word for “witness” is “martyr” (Thomas G. Long). As the white church grapples with sins related to racism and our own complacency, we must give weight to the Black churches stories of harassment and pain and acknowledge our failure to stand up against racism and lies. We should also be amazed by their continued faith in Jesus and prayers for us. Perhaps they are the Apostle Paul and it is we, who preach often from “false motives.”

Third, Paul’s words to describe those in the wrong  -  envious, selfish and untruthful  - are words frequently found in lists of other vices that always adversely affect, even endanger, the life of the church (Romans 1:29; 23 Cor. 12:20; Gal. 5:20-21; 1 Tim. 6:4). Though Paul can still celebrate that Christ is preached (”in THIS I rejoice”), he is not winking at their bad behavior that wounds others. Such behavior is sinful, corroding, and must not be ignored. If someone claims Christian belief and acts in any of these ways it is precisely because they are a brother or sister that we must call them out, invite them to repent, encourage them to adopt a posture of good-will, love and truth. But the context of family means that chastisement can never be the satisfying ending. We long for nothing less than reconciliation. We are family. We must as Christians neither wink at sin nor perpetrate a kind of domestic violence where we punish the sinners in our midst too strongly or even worse, beat them to death. Calling out sin is ALWAYS for the purpose of salvation and love. 

Fourth, though these are very broken (even dangerous) people Paul still calls them “family.” Paul addresses believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 14; and in 3:1, 13, 17; 4:1, 8, 21. It’s another favorite word of Paul. He uses it 133 times displaying an affection toward others that most Romans found quite astounding. And yet he describes within this family some who are stirring up trouble for him. Some who are filled with “envy and rivalry”, who “preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely.” None of these behaviors keep you from being part of the family. He regrets their motives and challenges their behavior, he does not reject them. Paul practiced what I might call the Stan Holme principle for unity – families stay together.