If the upshot of somebody else's actions is that somebody else jumps in to benefit from or take credit from my work, if the upshot is that people jump from my church to some other church that's still preaching Christ, where God's sheep are still being fed, then this is simply my opportunity to give up my own personal interests, just as Christ himself gave up his personal interests when he came to earth for all of us to die. Welcome to MidAmerica Reformed Seminary's Roundtable Podcast, a broadcast where the faculty of MidAmerica discuss Reformed theology and cultural issues, all from a Reformed perspective. You're listening to episode 127. I'm Jared Luchobor, thank you for tuning in. In today's episode, Dr. Marcus Minninger concludes his series on resolving conflict with peers, all from the perspective of the Apostle Paul. Today, he's going to focus on Philippians 1, verses 12 through 18, where the Apostle Paul makes mention that his being imprisoned has served to advance the gospel. In this harsh reality that he's in, Paul is able to set an example of a God-centered response to conflict, namely, quiet rejoicing for the sake of Christ. Here's Dr. Minninger to elaborate. We look at Philippians 1, 12 through 18. And there we see Paul giving yet another different response to conflict with other office bearers. In this case, it's not submitting himself to others out of reverence for God, or confronting others out of reverence for God, but instead, quietly rejoicing out of reverence for God. Against the background of these other two examples that we've just seen in Galatians, We see Paul dealing with a different sort of situation in which one and the same attitude of God-centeredness guides him to a different sort of response as well. Interestingly though, here in Philippians 1, Paul's God-centeredness does not express itself in activity, at least at the horizontal level. in relationship to other office bearers that he describes. It actually instead expresses itself in his quietness, in the self-control and the resolve that he shows in his private response to the Lord in his heart to rejoice. Paul doesn't schedule a meeting here to submit his message to other people's scrutiny or to confront others for their inconsistency. Instead, he simply steps back. He pauses in the midst of conflict to rejoice for what God himself is doing, even in the midst of others' wrongdoing. And even despite the negative effects that others' wrongdoing is having upon him at that time. Now, to understand why Paul's response is so different in this case, and what a profound example of Christ-centeredness this really is, we need to look a little bit at the circumstances in this particular text. One of the things we need to notice in Philippians 1, 12-18, is it's important to consider the nature of the conflict that Paul experiences here, which is quite different than the nature of the conflict in Galatians. In particular, we need to be carefully, take care to note how this particular conflict in Philippians 1 is not centered on the message of the gospel itself, the content of the gospel. Paul's not dealing with a false gospel being preached by others in Philippians 1 the way that he was in Galatians. He's also not dealing with disciples like Peter who were accommodating aspects of that false gospel through their activity, and therefore sowing this sort of confusion in the church about what the gospel actually was. Instead, if we read Philippians 1 carefully, we notice how Paul does not question the content being preached by those who oppose him. He says instead that there are two groups of preachers in verse 15, both of whom are among the brothers mentioned in verse 14, and the content that both sets of preachers, both sets of brothers preach, is described in exactly the same way in both instances. Those who are for Paul and those who are causing problems for Paul. Both, he says, simply preach Christ. Some preach Christ, indeed, out of envy and rivalry, and others out of goodwill, but the content is the same. Evidently, then, there's nothing noteworthy that distinguishes the message of the one group from the message of the other group, and this goes a long way, again, to explaining why Paul can say that he rejoices when both groups preach. Despite what some have assumed then in Philippians scholarship, Paul's not dealing here with the conflict over Judaizing, as he was in Galatia. Or in other words, we could put it this way, this is not a conflict over doctrine, or of compromising doctrine through public hypocritical actions. Yet we must be clear that just because this is not a conflict over doctrine, doesn't mean that the conflict here is a light one for Paul himself. In fact, in some ways, this may make it harder for him, personally speaking, but it also helps us pinpoint exactly why he says that he does what he does. You see, while these rivalrous preachers are preaching Christ, the problem is that they're doing so with wrong motives. They're doing so out of envy and rivalry. The words that Paul uses there suggest that these brothers are motivated by covetousness and resentment over the influence that Paul has in his ministry. These men, whoever they are, struggle under the weight of their own ambition, desiring to obtain more of Paul's influence for themselves. And because of this, they actually see the Apostle Paul's imprisonment as an opportunity for themselves, something to exploit so that they can increase their own following. They jump into action while Paul is literally held captive in chains to preach Christ and gather more people around their ministry. It's really very galling in its own way, isn't it? And so what is Paul to do? How should he respond to this sort of competitiveness that others are initiating? Well, how he does respond is simply to rejoice. Of course, Paul's not saying that the fact that these preachers are envious and motivated by selfish ambition is fine, doesn't matter at all. Really, the whole thrust of so much of Galatians, certainly in Galatians 1 and 2, we can see this. is that we ought not to act out of envy or out of a desire for personal recognition and glory. Chapter 2, verse 3 states as much. Paul wants the Philippians to be of one mind, to have unity in the way that they think, in what their goals are, to be in full accord with each other. And, of course, he knows that to do this, they have to consider others' interests before their own, rather than act out of selfish ambition and envy. So again, it's clear that Paul's point in Philippians 1 is not that the motivation of these rivalrous preachers is okay, it doesn't matter, nothing to be concerned with in any way at all, but his point instead is this. If all that somebody else's envy and ambition produce is a trampling on my rights while Christ himself is still preached and his cause advanced, then I take my own interest out of the equation and simply rejoice. The envious preachers in Philippians 1 are not preaching another gospel. They're not threatening to split the church with their public actions to accommodate another gospel. And so Paul rightly recognizes that the main problem that their actions create is for himself. They seek to afflict Paul by insinuating themselves into his sphere of influence, and yet as they do so, they are preaching Christ. And so, Paul says, what should our response be? Our concern should not be with who gets credit. who has the influence, whose following is bigger. In essence, Paul says it should not be with which servant of Christ Jesus does which work or even seems to do which work and get the credit in the eyes of others. Instead, my concern when others succeed, even because they're being competitive with me, my concern is simply with this, is Jesus Christ nonetheless being served, even if it's at my own expense? So if the real consequence of all of this is that I lose something, even as Christ does not, then my own chief concern is actually still being met, if I think like a servant. If the upshot of somebody else's actions is that somebody else jumps in to benefit from or take credit from my work, if the upshot is that people jump from my church to some other church that's still preaching Christ, where God's sheep are still being fed, then this is simply my opportunity to give up my own personal interests, just as Christ himself gave up his personal interests when he came to earth for all of us to die. Philippians 2, 6-11. If it's really the case, as Paul says of himself in Philippians 1, 1, that is nothing more than a servant of the servant, Jesus Christ, who made himself nothing, then if Christ's interests are being served, that is all that ultimately matters to Paul. If I'm offended or mistreated, if I'm marginalized in some particular context where Christ's kingdom is still being advanced, then what? Is that fair? Well, no, it's not fair. But does it matter? Well, yes, it matters some, but it matters much less than other things. And so while I wait quietly for the Lord to do his own work, knowing that he himself will settle all accounts justly on the day of his return, while I commit myself to the Lord and to his glory, I can simply also rejoice. This may be the most difficult of the three passages that we've considered, at least in one respect, because it involves not solving the problem, but contenting ourselves with the Lord's provision in the meantime. It exposes our heart's intent and our private religious response to the Lord behind closed doors. Do we rejoice before God himself? when his cause is served, even at our expense. Even when we ourselves are wronged and must give up our own interests. Often I think we are so worried about how successful other people are or are not. It galls us, doesn't it, when somebody else gets more credit than we do? Especially if it's for the wrong reasons. Whose church is bigger? Whose Facebook account has more friends? Who gets the credit for having helped somebody in a particular counseling situation? Who's thought of as a really good teacher or theologian? Who gets elected to classes or federation committees? Or asked to speak at conferences or to write for magazines? Who speaks the most in consistory meetings? Whose explanations are praised or followed? Sometimes we get upset with others who pursue those sorts of accolades and that kind of attention, but the fact that we get so upset about it often really shows how much it matters wrongly to us, too. Truly, isn't it often man-centered people who find other man-centered people most bothersome? Isn't it competitive people who get most riled up and bothered by others who act competitively or seem to act competitively? Paul tells us here that in the end these human accolades and these human degrees of influence don't matter. All that should matter to us is the cause of our Savior. This is a great test, I think, of our God-centeredness. Do we really seek God's glory as we say we do? even when the accomplishment of God's glory means my lack of glory, my lack of recognition, at least for now. Of course, I've already said this, but the reason that Paul can act in this self-emptying way is clearly because of how Jesus Christ himself first acted for all of our sakes. in a self-emptying way, the most self-emptying way in His incarnation, His life, and His death. that Jesus Christ did not consider his own self-interest. He did not grasp after equality with God. Instead, he gave up his own interests. He came to earth from heaven, took on a servant form, doing somebody else's will, even at complete cost to himself, even unto death, the death of a cross. And this is where the gospel, once again, hits home to us and refocuses our attention. The greatest man who ever walked the earth, the God-man, who actually did deserve all honor and glory and deference and recognition in ways that we never will. This one completely poured himself out on my behalf, on our behalf, to render an obedience to the Father that I could not and would not render, and to provide me with justification and adoption and sanctification and, indeed, ultimately, glorification. Here, indeed, is the one that I know that I need. to forgive me of all my perpetual and all of my inveterate and habitual man-centeredness, and to wash me clean from my shameful self-service, and to enable me to die unto sin and self, and to live unto righteousness by His own power. And if he has done all of this for us as the Lord of glory, should we not seek to follow after him as well, even as Paul describes in these verses? It's clear that Paul's point in Philippians 2 is just this, chapter 2, verse 5, that we should have this mind in ourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. And so we come before our Savior, And we confront both our man-centered sinfulness, which we see all the more as we look at Him, and we confront, we see graciously His provision time and time again as we fail. The self-emptying cross of Jesus Christ shows us the depth and the desperateness of our own selfish condition apart from Him, but it also shows us the fullness of what he has given for our sake to remedy that desperate condition. And it also shows us something else, that God's plan for all his children is that they would receive glory, that we would receive glory on the far side of God-centered self-denial during this life, just as was the case for Jesus. that this is our time of humiliation compared to the future of glorification. And when we see this, and when we commit ourselves to this and empty ourselves, then our glory truly is God-centered. Because it's not a glory that we grab for ourselves through our own ingenuity, through our political maneuverings, through our self-protection, through our self-assertion. It's instead something that we receive only from Him, only as His interests are served. And so it so clearly is to his glory alone as it should be. We appreciate Dr. Minninger and his work in the New Testament and in his labors to teach and help us understand these important truths from Paul's letters on how to have a God-centered approach to handling conflict with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Dr. Miniger will join us again next week along with Dr. Cornelis Venema to examine spiritual gifts, namely prophecy, healing, and speaking in tongues. Have these gifts ceased? Or do they continue still to this day in the church? Tune in next time to hear their response. For more episodes, you can find us on our website at midamerica.edu slash podcasts. And wherever you listen to your favorite shows, be sure to search for and subscribe to Mid-America Reformed Seminaries Roundtable. I'm Jared Luchabor. Till next time.