Devotion #4: Where Is Our Focus?

Patrick Bicknell

“Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 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. Yes, and I will rejoice.” Philippians 1:15-18

Every year during January and September, The River Church goes through our Reach, Gather, Grow series to discuss the mission and vision of the church. If you have been here for a while, then you have heard this multiple times. It is very easy to allow yourself to tune out of this recurring series since we go over it often. You might say things like, “I have heard this before. I do not need it.” I want to encourage you not to take that approach. For this devotion, I want to discuss where our Reach first needs to start. It is our mindset, or to put it more plainly, what we are focused on.

I used to play a lot of sports, so I tend to use sports analogies. One of the hardest but most important things to any sport is the work that you put in before the big game, before everyone sees you. It is all the time spent in the gym or on the field practicing your craft and working your tail off. That is what leads to results in the game. This hard work can become very taxing if you do not have a clear goal and focus on what you are doing or trying to accomplish. I believe this is what Paul is revealing to us in Philippians 1:15-18. He is telling his readers about some people who are preaching Christ for the wrong motives, and even people who are preaching Christ with the purpose of bringing pain and sorrow to Paul himself. What Paul says about these people is shocking. Many of us, including myself, would not only want these people to stop doing what they are doing, but we would want justice for how they are affecting us. Paul does not excuse what they are doing, but he reveals to the readers and to us what is more important, Christ is proclaimed.

Paul writes in verse 18, “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice.” This is the focus we need to have if we are going to reach our world effectively. To be able to say what Paul is saying here (that I will rejoice in any way that Christ is proclaimed even if it means I am inflicted by the people doing it), requires one thing. It requires us to take the focus off of ourselves. Too often, I am guilty of this. We think about our own needs and our own well-being first. We want what is best for us. We want to do what is easy and what will not cause us pain. However, we are told to do one thing, proclaim Christ. We need to take ourselves out of the center of our own world and put Christ there, as He should be. If our main focus in life, as individuals and as a church, is to see Christ proclaimed and glorified, we will see an explosion of new believers and greater effectiveness in reaching our world.