“Now I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.”

Philippians 1:12 (for context read Philippians 1:12-18)

My brothers-in-law, who live in the open country of western North Dakota, liked to hunt.  They would get the requisite licenses and tags for the various seasons like deer or elk, which were limited to just a few weeks a year.  But for the coyote in the western plains, there is (or was) no season – you could go after them just about any time.  It was for that reason my brothers-in-law used to say coyotes were harder to hunt, because they were (in theory at least) hunted all the time, so they were cautious, smart creatures.  Deer would roam about freely for all but a few weeks a year, and for that reason were a bit easier to hunt since they had not been on “high alert” all the time, like their smaller nemesis the coyote. My brothers-in-law even went so far as to say the coyote population in their area was probably larger because they were hunted – they were smarter.

In Philippians 1:12, Paul makes the remarkable claim that his imprisonment served to help spread the gospel.  For starters, he said, his behavior had impressed his guards that he was no run-of-the-mill renegade or outlaw, and thus, the chains meant to restrain him and keep him in prison were not necessary.  The whole palace guard knew that he was a prisoner because of his faith, not his crimes.   And in fact, they learned Paul actually liked it that way. His being in prison had provided him a captive audience for the gospel – his own guards.

But then Paul goes on to say that because he was in prison, the word of Christ got out even more than if he had remained free, for his treatment inspired others to take up where he left off.  In John 16:7, Our Lord Jesus said that it was for his disciples' good that he was going away. Then the Father would send the Holy Spirit, and in effect, multiple Christ's message through his disciples.

There is nothing grand, glorious or easy about being ill-treated or persecuted because of your faith.  Then again, when you do nothing but listen to affirming messages about your faith, they tend to become automatic and a comfort zone of sorts. It may well be that Jesus wants us to be out of our comfort zone a whole lot more.  That means listening to others in their reservations or even objections to the Christian faith, and asking questions of how they formed their ideas and conclusions.   Don’t assume for a minute that the aforementioned “captive audience” of the palace (Roman) guard that had Paul under 24-hour lock and key bowed to his views, or that Paul spent no time wondering what theirs were. This was not so that he could refute them, but that he could find a better way to present his faith in Christ.

It should never be our desire to have our faith or the gospel opposed, but it will be.  We should never relish having our faith “hunted” by the myriad cultural hosts that disdain God and his Christ. But, at the same time, it may be true that such forces will actually make us better at what we are – disciples. For then we’ll have more than just a comfortable faith blanket to lie on. We’ll have a cause to take up – and we’ll be stronger because we are smarter about what the world believes and more convicted of what we believe.

Because of a cross,

Pastor Ken Nelson

“If you love God,” says Augustine, “you are God; if you love the earth, you are earth.” For love is a unifying power that turns into one the lover and his love.

-Martin Luther

Lectures on Romans