Chapter 1, Verse 17 “The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.”
The former preached Christ out of envy and a sense of rivalry. Interestingly Paul does not criticize their subject matter. Evidently, their doctrine was sound enough. It was their motive for preaching that Paul took issue with. Were they envy of the success Paul was having? Paul says they had ambition which is not a bad thing but theirs was selfish which is always a bad thing. Perhaps these teachers thought that if they were successful in spreading the good news it would hurt Paul’s feelings. We are not told why they might resent Paul being successful but it is hard not to draw the conclusion that they were.
Their preaching did not upset Paul because they were doing exactly what Paul was giving his life to do. He wanted the gospel preached. It was their attitude that Paul found disturbing. In truth it did not hurt Paul but he knew it was not good for them. It is easy to think that Paul might have been upset with them. We would see it as human nature to be upset by such action. Thankfully, Paul has risen above that level of thinking. He has squashed his ego in favor of honoring Christ. We are not surprised then when Paul’s next words are “What does it matter?”
Task for Today: Are you bothered by the success of others when they are successful in the same field as you? As a Christian you have to bury your own ego so that you can exalt others. The concept of Christ first, others second, and self last is a good concept. If you haven’t reached that point yet, then today is a good time to start. Paul will remind us of that in chapter two. “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)
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