Today’s topic is kinda related to my previous column, about motives and intents. However, I came across a passage that made me stop and think. It seems to go against everything I’ve said before; to me, it says the “Ends do justify the Means.” In other words, the result is all that matters, the hidden motives behind the actions do not matter. It’s exactly the opposite of the entire column I wrote before. Where is this verse? It’s in Philippians 1:15-18. Here's the passage so you don't have to turn to it. (Aren't I nice?)
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 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.
I took the liberty of highlighting the important points. Now, unlike my previous articles, I have been very careful about those niggling things like context and exegesis. It's why I
So let me explain to you what's going on, here, as I understand it. When Paul wrote this letter, he was in prison. And he heard from his little birds, about people preaching the gospel. Some he knew, preached out of love and goodness. They preached because they honestly love the Lord, and want to fulfill Jesus' commission. But others, Paul understood, preached out of pettiness and jealousy. They wanted to hurt Paul, by showing him that while he's stuck in prison, apparently unable to do anything, they're out spreading the gospel far and wide. Secretly, they were jealous of Paul. They wanted to hurt him, make him feel powerless, because he wasn't at the forefront of the ministry spreading the gospel. However, little do they know that Paul was bigger than that. He was magnanimous. The second interesting thing is that Paul did not find any fault with their preaching. They were teaching the exact same gospel that Paul and his followers preached. Because he did not say anything bad about their preaching style, we must conclude that they are preaching the same thing he did. So that's another thing to keep in mind.
I want to preface the whole thing by saying first, that this is the only example I could find where motives did not matter to Paul. As I had shown you in my previous column, there are many many examples where motives do matter. This is significant because it means that this is a very isolated, special case. I think there are several factors which make this a specialized case, factors which I will detail later. But I just want to warn you that it will be very hard to apply this passage to any argument you may make about the "ends justifying the means." That's all I'm saying.
First of all, this passage illustrates that Paul is a totally ego-less person, humble to the extreme. These people preached the gospel to get at Paul. To ridicule him for his imprisonment. While he is stuck in a holding cell, all these other people can finally be at the forefront of spreading the gospel everywhere. These were people who had too long been living under Paul's shadow. However, Paul didn't take their bait. Essentially, with this passage, he's saying, "Good Job! You have spread the gospel!" He doesn't care who preaches, as long as they're preaching the right gospel. He clearly writes that he doesn't care why they are preaching the gospel, as long as it is being preached. He doesn't want divisions within the Church, where people are baptized from Paul, others from Barnabas. He wants everyone to be baptized and live in unity. Just like he doesn't care who spreads the gospel, as long as everyone can hear it, and know the full knowledge of Christ.
Second of all, it is very important to note that these preachers with evil motives, nevertheless preached the correct gospel. The message they gave was the exact same message that Paul gave. If they had preached a wrong or false gospel, Paul would have come down hard on them. These weren't Gnostics, of whom Paul had denounced in many of his other letters. Nor were these Judaizers, who tried to preach Jewish customs to Gentiles, a practice that Paul also abhors.
Even though this was a very isolated case, it is still important because as American legal system would say, "It sets a precedent." Paul shows that under the right circumstances, it doesn't matter what their motives were. He is happy nevertheless, because the gospel is preached! It didn't matter to him that some people preached out of envy or jealousy. Just as long as the gospel is reached around the world. In this case, motives don't matter. Now, can we apply this situation to today? Well, possibly. If someone today preaches the correct gospel, but he does it because he wants to become famous, is that wrong? Or if someone starts up another church because he doesn't like the pastor of his current church, is that wrong? If someone serves in a Church ministry out of obligation, "because if I don't, who will" mentality, or to be recognized within the church, is that wrong? I can't answer these questions, only the Holy Spirit can.
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