Tuesday, April 17, 2012

There are no style points

Philippians 1:18  "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."

Paul recognized that some were preaching the Gospel with less than pure motives.  They had possibly figured out that the growing movement provided a platform from which they could make a name for themselves.  This motive was less than the pure motive of spreading the Good News and drawing others to Christ. 

Paul also recognized, though, that regardless of the motive, the Gospel was still being preached and spread.  This seems a little contradictory when you view this stance by Paul in light of his strong arguments against false teachers and about those who go through the motions of Christianity without a changed heart.  Maybe Paul knew that God would ultimately deal with these people about what was in their hearts, and that was not his concern.  Rather, he recognized that the preaching of God's Word has value even if the motives of the preacher are not totally pure.

We should keep this thought in mind when we have our inevitable debates about stylistics and how one preacher or church spreads the Gospel versus another.  Some use massive church buildings, some use the living room of an individual's home.  Some use television, some only preach in face-to-face, one-on-one conversations. 

We need to keep in mind that there is not one exclusively acceptable system for spreading the Gospel.  Style is not important.  If one style of worship reaches a non-believer where another style would not have, we should rejoice.  The important thing is that they are reached.  God and His Holy Spirit will take it from there.

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