Philippians 1:15-18 Christ is preached! (Who cares why?)

I’m back! I've been without home internet access, so instead of seeming a week behind, this seems almost two weeks behind my posted schedule for learning the rest of chapter one.  Here are my thoughts from this past Monday:

I had said that I might or might not memorize all of Philippians…but now that I’ve started, I really do want to memorize, rather than just look at, each paragraph.  So I’m changing my approach, and we’ll see how that works.  This afternoon, I’ve chosen what phrasing I want to memorize from verse 15 all the way to the end of chapter 1.  I’ve printed it out, and plan to carry it in my purse, so that each week when it’s time to start a new paragraph, I won’t wait to look at it until I have a chance to get to my computer or to multiple different versions of the Bible.

And I’m not going to spend time in this blog thinking aloud about phrasing choices.  Instead, I want to think about structure of each paragraph.  Repeated words or phrases (that might help me memorize).  I could even think about content! 

So let’s take a look at this week’s [=last week’s] passage:

¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry,

but others [do so] out of goodwill.
¹⁶ These proclaim Christ out of love,
knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel;
¹⁷ the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely,
supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.
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.

We probably want to remind ourselves of the paragraph immediately preceding this one.  (Which I have partly memorized, but not completely…especially verse 14.)  Philippians 1:1-11 hang together in a nice, cohesive unit, culminating in the benediction I love.  Then verse 12ff:

          ¹² Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,

that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.

¹³ As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard

and to everyone else

that I am in chains for Christ.

¹⁴ And because of my chains,

most of the Christians here have become confident in the Lord,

and dare to proclaim the Word with greater boldness and without fear.

So we have a mental picture of the Christians near where Paul is imprisoned,

being empowered and proclaiming the gospel with more boldness than they previously had done.  In these next few verses, we’re going to talk about those brothers and sisters who are preaching the Word:

¹⁵ It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry,

but others [do so] out of goodwill.

¹⁶ These proclaim Christ out of love,

knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel;

¹⁷ the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely,

supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 

What would happen if I would use color and/or indentation to help me remember who is being talked about when?  Suddenly this looks like a little chiasm:  an A section at the beginning of verse 15 corresponds to an A’ section in verse 17.  Both A sections talk about the same content, but A’ gives more detail.  And the (green) B and B’ sections follow the same pattern.  B introduces the subject matter [which is the opposite of A], and B’ gives more detail.

And then, after these verses that describe two different groups of people, both of whom are proclaiming the gospel, but for very different reasons, we have the verse that brings those two groups together:

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.  

Let me just pull out some key words for each group of people:

envy, rivalry, selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing - stir up trouble; false motives

goodwill, love, defense of the gospel, true [motives]

And, while I’m playing with color, let me color-code those words (going from lighter to darker) based on whether they show up in the first (A or B) section, the second (A’ or B’) section, or the synthesis (What does it matter?) section:

envy, rivalry, selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing - stir up trouble; false motives

goodwill, love, defense of the gospel, true [motives]

Now let me re-rearrange them, inserting “preach the gospel” phrases where appropriate (and adding a few blue words about Paul):

preach Christ    envy, rivalry

    goodwill,

            proclaim Christ    love,

I = here        defense of the gospel,

proclaim Christ    selfish ambition, not sincerely,

supposing - stir up trouble     chains

What does it matter?   important thing

false motives   true,

Christ is preached.

I rejoice.

(Hmmm…there’s a neat little preach-proclaim-proclaim-preach pattern!)  I suspect that if I can remember all these key words, I’ll have this passage pretty well memorized!  And that last phrase, “because of this, I rejoice” will be a tie to the passage for next week.

Speaking of next week:  I’ve re-divided which verses to look at which week, so that it agrees more with the paragraph divisions in my Bible and so that I don’t end up doing two complete sections in one week.  So here’s the revised plan, along with the phrasing I’ve chosen:

Week of November 24, 2013 – Philippians 1:18d-21

Yes, and I will continue to rejoice,

¹⁹ for I know that through your prayers

and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance.

²⁰ I eagerly expect and hope

that I will not be put to shame in any way,

but that by my speaking with all boldness,

Christ will be exalted now as always in my body,

whether by life or by death.

²¹ For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

Week of December 1, 2013 - Philippians 1:22-26

²² If I am to go on living in the body,

this will mean fruitful labor for me.

Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!

²³ I am torn between the two:

I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;

²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.

²⁵ Since I am convinced of this,

I know that I will remain

and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith,

²⁶ so that through my being with you again

your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.

Week of December 8, 2013 – Philippians 1:27-30

²⁷ Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ,

so that, whether I come and see you

or am absent and hear about you,

I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit,

striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel,

²⁸ and are in no way intimidated by your opponents.

This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed,

but that you will be saved –

and that by God.

²⁹ For you have been granted the privilege for Christ's sake

not only of believing in him

but of suffering for him as well;

³⁰ since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had,

and now hear that I still have.