Preaching Christ: All Publicity is Good Publicity

(Philippians 1:15-18)

There is a saying in marketing that says “Any publicity is good news.” Basically they are saying that whether the publicity is bad or good it is useful. And this applies also to preaching Christ.

The point is that whether it is good or bad, any publicity is better than no publicity because whether good or bad, it raises peoples attention about the matter.

And in essence this is what Paul is speaking about in these few verses, that all publicity preaching Christ is good publicity.

The Unstoppable Word of God

In my last post I wrote about the fact that the Gospel and the word of God are unstoppable. The word will spread and people will come to Christ regardless of whatever the world may throw at Christianity.

This is what Paul is speaking about in these scriptures.

15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defence of the gospel; 17 the former proclaim Christ out of partisanship, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice. (Philippians 1:15-18)

There were people going about speaking of Jesus Christ and the gospel of salvation who were not sincere about what they were saying. They were preaching or speaking about the Lord out of envy and rivalry seeking to hurt or put down the truth of the gospel and those who taught it sincerely.

But these people were not bothering Paul in the least, for as he says, whether they were sincere or not, the word of the Lord was being spoken about. The gospel was being spread regardless of whether the people speaking about it were believers or not.

Now, is this any different today? There are people in the church today who are preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ but are not doing it out of sincerity. What they are doing is seeking their own benefit or power. Consider those who preach the prosperity gospel. They force a false teaching onto their congregations in the guise of Christianity and they twist scriptures to back up their position.

What about atheists?

Atheists utterly oppose Christianity and any form of religion saying that there is no God. They claim that those who choose to follow Christ are foolish.

In the western world today the power of atheists has grown to the point where they are influencing governments at all levels to try and remove all references to religion, God and Jesus Christ from all public places.

Governments at all levels who used to commence their sitting sessions with a prayer in many cases have ceased this practice. Atheists often attack those who still do open with prayer saying that there must be a separation of Church and state.

Does it matter?

When we look at the words of Paul in these verses today we see that he didn’t care greatly about similar issues in his time. He pretty much said that all publicity preaching Christ is good publicity.

There have always been opponents to the truth of Jesus Christ simply because the devil, who is the ruler of this world, opposes Christ.

But what we see today is that approximately one third of the world’s population calls themselves Christian. That is, more than two billion people are Christians in the world today despite the efforts of the unbelievers, atheists and those who were insincere in their preaching of Jesus Christ.

So in answer to the question, “Does it matter?” The answer is…probably not.

Why it doesn’t matter

The reason why it doesn’t matter is the same reason Paul put forward in these scriptures. People were talking about Jesus whether they were preached sincerely or whether people even spoke against Jesus.

Even today when atheists raise a storm about removing Christ from public places, the net effect is that they are promoting the existence of Jesus Christ. It starts people talking and thinking about Christ. Some will think deeply about all matters to do with Christianity to find out for themselves. As a result, the efforts of those opposed to Christ will cause some to grow stronger in their faith, while others may seek what this is all about and come to Christ.

Either way, Christ is preached and the gospel is spread, and that is the point that Paul was making.

Insincere preaching or even false preaching in parts of the church still spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, even if they are insincere or preaching for their own benefit.

And that is the point. Anyone and everyone has the chance to decide for themselves. The power of the gospel is unstoppable and the impact it has had on the world is undeniable.

Those who oppose Christ are fighting a losing battle. All they achieve is to bring the knowledge of Christ to the forefront of the minds of others who then need to consider and make a decision for themselves.

Will everyone do this? Will everyone accept Christ? Of course not. But in speaking of Christ, those who hear the word will be forced to consider and make a decision either to be with Christ or not.

This is why Paul is so bold as to say, “…whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice.” This is also why I say that all publicity preaching Christ is good publicity.

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