Philippians 1:12-18a, Proclaim Christ
Proclaim: The driving theme of the passage is the
progress of the Gospel through the proclamation of Christ. Many terms are used
in the text to describe proclaiming Christ[1] and
none of them requires an official position of leadership. Instead, Paul
referred to the proclaimers as brethren; he did not refer to them as
pastors or missionaries. This is because the qualification for proclaiming
Christ is simply to be a Christian. All Christians know Christ (Phil. 1:6; Jn.
17:3) and fellowship with Christ (Phil. 1:11; 1 Jn. 1:3). These alone provide
the content and encouragement for us to tell people about the
Savior. We are to proclaim Christ (Mt. 28:19-20; Acts 8:4) and many examples
of men (Acts 9:20; 10:26) and women (Mt. 28:8; John 4) nudge us forward to do
the same. May we pray and seek ways to participate.
Trusting in the Lord:
To trust in the Lord is to depend on Him. But we often depend on ourselves.
This is revealed when our fears, hesitations, and excuses control us. These can
become our masters and overwhelm us so that we do not tell others about Christ.
It is the opposite of trusting in the Lord. In contrast, the brethren did not
do what we might expect with the potential of imprisonment before them.[2] Their
trust in the Lord led them to be courageous and to speak the word of God
without fear. The status quo barrier was shattered. They spread out to tell the
lost about the life-giving message of salvation in Christ Jesus. If we trust
Him, we will also break through our own barriers so that we act upon that trust
and proclaim Christ fearlessly.