The God who turns bad to good

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 defence 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. Philippians 1:12-18

I have recently had an experience which I found troubling.

There is a well-known evangelical Christian writer whose writings I have always found helpful, and whom I have recommended to others. But he has now confessed to a long-standing extramarital relationship and declared that his ministry is over.

It’s not the relationship itself that particularly troubles me – though of course it does – for this kind of thing seems to be increasingly common; no, it’s the uncertainty about the view we should take of his books and articles. One friend in particular to whom I had given one of his books – should he now be warned, something like “This writer should be avoided because he has blotted his copy-book”? Should Christian booksellers be expected to withdraw his books from their shelves as “no longer approved of”? Of course it’s reassuring that he has shown regret by (as I understand it) voluntarily stepping down from his ministry. But his writings are still there, and they are not going to change.

Well, I was chatting recently about this to a group of friends, including the one who I had lent the book to, and was reassured by their response. It basically boiled down to: “Well, if what he wrote was true and helpful when he wrote it, it’s still true and helpful now, isn’t it?” Nobody attempted to excuse his failure; and presumably Christian publishers from now on will be inclined to touch him, if requested, only with the proverbial barge-pole. But truth is truth: and truth, while it might be added to or refined, doesn’t change, does it?

So… sad, certainly, yes, sad, sad, sad. But let it rest there; for surely my friends were right. Let our priority now be to pray for this man as he surveys the wreckage of his life. We have no reason to doubt the sincerity of his faith, after all – and don’t we all fail and sin in various ways? Pray even more, of course, for his wife and family.

And then, as it happened, I found myself reading Paul’s letter to the Philippians, especially the verses I have quoted above: chapter I:12-18. I felt it offered us a parallel. This parallel is by no means exact, true, but I think it throws some light on the dilemma I had found myself troubled by.

Fact: Paul had enemies – or should we say “opponents”? – in the church (the Corinth letters in particular make this clear). This shouldn’t really surprise us, since while as Christians we are saved sinners, we are still sinners, and perhaps prone to fall out with one another! When he wrote his letter to the Philippians he was in prison - we don’t know definitely where, but Philippians 1:12-14 suggests an important city of the Roman empire, possibly Rome itself.

According to this passage he feels his imprisonment has served as a challenge and inspiration to others, a blessing in disguise, if you like. But then he perhaps rather surprises us by mentioning other Christians “who…(wait for it)…preach Christ out of envy and rivalry… out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing they can stir up trouble for me while I am I chains…”.

Oh! That’s a pretty severe criticism, isn’t it? In a word, Paul feels he is being opposed by deliberate, wilful trouble-makers who, as the saying goes, have it in for him. Who these people were we can’t be absolutely sure (and, of course, we only get Paul’s slant on things) but certainly they professed to be Christians, and God alone fully knew their hearts.

The key thing for our purposes is what comes next. The first two Greek words of verse 18 are translated in the NIV “But what does it matter”? That could be translated: “But so what?” or “Who cares?” or even “What the heck?” And Paul then goes on to add the key words: “The important thing is that in very way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice”.

You see the parallel with the writer who has fallen into sin? Anyone who happens to pick up one of his books, blissfully unaware of his fall, may receive blessing and light, just as anyone who heard a Christ-centred sermon by one of Paul’s opponents may have been brought to faith. What matters is the word, not the messenger. Which, when you stop to think about it, is just as well, isn’t it? For when has there ever been a perfect preacher, or a perfect writer?

We must be careful, of course. The way we live and act matters enormously: Jesus tells us that we are to be “perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect” and there must be no hint of “Oh well, God will forgive; that’s his business”. Holiness is a serious business.

The Victorian preacher C H Spurgeon, talking about the tragedy of the preacher who falls into sin, said (I quote from memory): “Such a preacher should be restored to ministry only when his repentance is as famous as his downfall was notorious”. Wise words, I think.

But the main thing to take away from Paul’s words here is the great truth of the gospel: that God’s love and grace in Jesus far outweigh even the worst of our sins, and far outshine even the weakest of our preaching. Thanks be to God!

Father in heaven, please help me to emulate the “What does it matter?” of your servant Paul, as long as your love revealed in Jesus is clearly displayed. Amen.