Not Getting Petty When We Get Attacked

From the book of Philippians, we’ve been looking at how the tough times in Paul’s life were not an impediment, but a furtherance to his ministry. Another way that God worked through Paul’s imprisonment was this: Philippians 1:14, “. . . and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Amen! Even more people were out witnessing. And they are witnessing boldly. “If Paul can do it, so can I,” perhaps they thought. And God emboldened them. They saw Paul’s courage, and they saw Paul’s results. They wanted in on the action.

One person is sometimes all it takes to get the ball rolling. One bold person can get others excited and on board. Boldness is contagious, and you can be that kind of a person that gets others stirred up. Paul got on fire for Jesus, and lots of other people did too. We can get on fire for Jesus, and start that same kind of fire in others.

Enthusiasm is contagious, and so is bravery. One soldier brave enough to charge the enemy lines will usually cause the rest to follow screaming and charging with all they’ve got.

But someone has got to be the one out in front leading the charge. That person can be you. And if not, it can be you who joins in the charge following someone else’s lead.

Come on, folks, we can do this? We can get the Gospel out in our community, can’t we? We can get excited about reaching this community with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul led the charge then, and lots of people are joining the fray. They are witnessing boldly just like Paul did. And we can do that same thing here.

But, not everyone was positively inspired by Paul. Some were negatively inspired. Philippians 1:15-17 states:

“Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.”

Do you see? There were two kinds of responses to Paul’s imprisonment. There were those who loved Paul, and because of his example, they too preached Christ. But some did it to thumb their nose at Paul wanting to “add affliction” to him. Their motivation was to hurt him. They envied his success – they wanted his ministry. And they were overjoyed that Paul was now out of action, so they could rise to the top.

It’s amazing how many pastors are envious of the churches down the road. And how much strife? “Paul is too out of touch. People need a fresh voice,” They say. “And the fact that Paul is in prison proves that God wanted him out of the way.” And now they have their chance to move to the forefront.

Didn’t that bother him? I’m sure it did. He was human, after all. And this kind of response has got to hurt. Nearly every pastor has felt that pain and heartache from others at one time or another. It could come from people in the church who have not been allowed into leadership for one reason or another. Perhaps the pastor had good reason to restrict them. But now is there chance, and they take it. And they gloat over the pastor’s loss of power or prestige.

But, by the grace of God, Paul rises above that. So many people think that just because Paul was an apostle that this didn’t hurt. That somehow apostles, like pastors, are not quite human so they don’t have real human feelings that can be crushed. Let me tell you, I’ve never seen more broken people than some of the pastors I’ve met at retreats. Men who have given their lives to ministry only to be beaten down with criticism and attacks until they really have little left to give. Sometimes, Paul must have felt that way. I have at times.

Listen to what Stuart Briscoe writes about Paul:

“Whatever we may think of Paul, he was no alabaster saint on a pedestal. The statue and the pedestal are the products of our own lack of reality. The real Paul had a temper that got heated and feelings that got hurt. He was no computerized theological machine churning out inspired writings, but a very warm human individual who needed as much love as the next man, and then some.

You can’t hurt a computer’s feelings or grieve a theological concept, but you can destroy a man. Paul was destructible, but he wasn’t destroyed. And it wasn’t for lack of somebody trying. The perspective that he had discovered allowed him to say that he didn’t really mind what happened to him so long as nothing happened to stop the gospel, because in his understanding the message preached mattered more than the man preaching.”

That’s a mark of spiritual maturity - to be broad shouldered enough to bear the slights and the hurts that others would pile on you without taking it personally or letting it get you off track following God’s will. Spiritual maturity doesn’t make every issue an issue. And it allows room for differences between people. It does not grow angry or vindictive.

So while they were eager to slip the knife between Paul’s ribs. He praised God that at least they were preaching Christ, even if not from the purest of motives. Do you know, it takes a lot of grace to not be petty.