Read Philippians 1:15
As Paul suffered for his faith in gaol he was under no pretences or false impressions. Paul had spent many years already being dogged by false believers who sought to make his life difficult and to destroy his ministry. In Acts 17 for example Paul is sent quickly from Thessalonica to Berea because the Jews made life decidedly difficult for him. The same Jews followed Paul and made life difficult in Berea as well. Now as he sits in goal he tells the Philippians that some people actually preach the gospel out of envy and rivalry.
The Greek word translated as ‘envy’ in verse 15 means an ill will towards someone because of a real or imagined advantage experienced by the other person. As such we see that this particular group of people are ‘jealous’ of Paul because he is making and gaining disciples and their own particular sect is not. How sad it is when churches today are motivated by such envy or jealousy. One church eyes another with suspicion and angst because that has grown rapidly. One minister seeks to put down another minster whose church has seen growth and vitality and new ministries spring up. One denomination looks suspiciously at another because they are adding another church into the town. As the body of Christ we need to give up our petty differences and rejoice as the gospel is preached from church to church across the town, city or nation.
The Greek word for rivalry in verse 15 means strife or discord, often verbal, such as saying bad or negative things about each other. Again we see this kind of rivalry in churches today. Congregations in the same denomination may have only negative things to say about each other because the style of worship service may differ. Denominations might speak ill of each other because of suspicion and a desire to out grow or out perform each other. In other passages of Scripture such rivalry proves that the person or congregation or denomination is being worldly rather than scriptural, godly or Christ-like.
Others though, preach the gospel out of goodwill. The Greek word here refers to being gracious or pleasing to someone/thing. It implies that a good outcome is in view.
I once spoke to two separate congregations in the same region and in the denomination. One ran a traditional service while the other ran a more contemporary service. Unfortunately they eyed each other off with suspicion and distrust. There was envy and rivalry between the two bodies. It would have been relatively easy for these two congregations to work together with good will if they simply realised that the older people wanting a traditional service could go to the traditional congregation and those wanting a contemporary service could go to the contemporary congregation. Such good will could have seen both congregations grow substantially.
Our congregations should be preaching the Gospel out of good will, out of love for God and love for our fellow man. We need to let envy and rivalry drop to the ground and take up this good heart towards God and our fellow man. When we preach out of good will we preach the gospel out of love - genuine love for God and love for others. When we preach the gospel out of goodwill, we will have innumerable occasions to rejoice and to praise our Lord and Saviour.
Prayer:
Using today’s Bible passage and notes write down points for
Adoration:
Confession
Thanks
Supplication:
· Pray for the churches in your area/city that each church would be preaching the gospel out of good will and not out of envy or rivalry. Pray that competition and distrust between Christian churches would reduce and that love and good will would grow tremendously.
· Pray that God would be glorified by this growth and that we’d see many more people coming into the fold as they repent and believe in Jesus.
1. If you sense this envy and rivalry among churches in your own denomination or group of believers, what should you do?
2. What does rivalry and envy look like in the Christian church?
3. Why should we seek to stamp it out?
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