When Paul Corrected My Critique

I loved my time in college at Cedarville University. One of the things that distinguished it from other Christian colleges was its commitment to chapel every weekday at 10 a.m. Through my four years of college, I heard some of the greatest speakers in the country open the Word and preach. However, with roughly 1,000 chapel sessions to fill, there were bound to be a few speakers who were less skilled than others.

As a budding Bible scholar, many of my classes after chapel were with other young, idealistic Bible students. It was common for the first few minutes of the class immediately following chapel to consist of a time of critique of the speaker du jour.

I distinctly remember one class on the prison epistles of Paul. After a fifteen-minute session discussing that day’s chapel speaker’s shortcomings, we opened the text to Philippians 1:15-18: “Some preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill…the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.”

Were Paul’s rivals specifically trying to hurt Paul with their preaching? Or were they just preaching from the wrong motivation? We’re not quite sure. What we do know is that Paul cared more about the proclamation of the gospel than his reputation. That was an instructive moment for me as a student. It was the last chapel speaker I criticized. Whether I’m the one God uses, or it’s someone else, I don’t care. As long as the gospel is proclaimed. And if Paul can overlook disrespect for the sake of the gospel, it’s time for us to reinterpret our circumstances! Let’s do a better job of examining our own motives and redefine success in life by asking the question, “Is Christ made known?” A life that is truly alive is a life that ensures that through everything, Christ is proclaimed.