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If you’re a Christian, how often do you find yourself wishing that living and speaking for Jesus was easier? You may have heard me quote this, but it’s from a book called Being the bad guys and it explains why we find ourselves wishing that. Quote:

A few generations ago, Christianity was the good guy, the solution to what was bad…and…[the culture]…affirmed Christians.Then something changed. [And during] the twentieth century, we became just one of the guys – one option among many…If Christianity worked for you, fine, but if it didn’t work for me, also fine.But…now…the tide has shifted further. And increasingly, Christianity is viewed as the bad guy…no longer an option…[but] a problem.[And instead] what is now being offered…so positively…is the hope of a new world that’s all glitter and rainbows...Online articles, news stories and movies all showcase people who, once lost and confused or struggling with identity because of standards imposed on them have now been freed by being true to who they feel themselves to be. We’re being offered…a narrative that seeks first to expose the Christian gospel as bad news, and then replace it with much-needed good news.[Being the bad guys, Stephen McAlpine, Good Book Co.]

Which is why, as one of our CYFA group said recently “To open your mouth as a Christian on any of today’s big issues is basically to commit social suicide”. That’s how it feels for the teenagers among us and how I guess it increasingly feels for most of us, which is why we’re doing this Philippians series, because it was written by the apostle Paul in circumstances where living and speaking for Jesus had become very hard for him. He was in prison in Rome, awaiting trial before the Emperor for what he believed and said about Jesus. And it was written to Christians in the Roman city of Philippi, where living and speaking for Jesus had become very hard for them, as well, because you were expected to buy into the state religion which said the Roman Emperor was ‘lord’ and ‘god’ and it didn’t like Christians who would only say that about Jesus. In fact Nero, the Emperor at the time, would soon be having Christians crucified and burned. But Paul wrote to the Philippians because he wanted them to know he wasn’t discouraged, and because he didn’t want them to be discouraged either. And the art of reading Philippians is to keep asking; What mindset did Paul have that enabled him to keep living and speaking for Jesus – even when it was so hard?

So would you turn in the Bibles to page 982? I know it’s onscreen, but it’s good to get a feel for where things are in the Bible, and to be able to look down at the whole passage, when verses on the screen may have gone. So page 982. Where you’ll see Philippians chapter 4 (big number 4) and in that, look down to verse (or little number, 9), Where Paul said (Philippians 4.9):

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practise these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

And that’s a key verse for applying Philippians to our lives because in a lot of it (like tonight’s passage) Paul’s talking about himself. And Philippians 4.9 says: Philippians is a window onto Paul’s mindset – and the mindset we see in him is the one God wants to see in us. So turn back to Philippians 1. And we pick it up again this week at verse 12. Philippians 1.12 where Paul says:

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.

So what had happened is that he’d been racing around the Mediteranean, spreading the gospel (in other words, the Christian message about Jesus). Jewish opponents had tried to kill him for what he believed and said about Jesus. So the Roman authorities took him into custody for his own safety. Paul then appealed for a trial before the Emperor and that landed him in prison in Rome. And the Philippians must have thought that was a disaster for the spread of the gospel but Paul says, ‘No…’, Philippians 1.12, it’s:

really served to advance the gospel

in other words, to spread it even more. So here’s lesson 1 from Paul’s mindset tonight:

1. Look for how your circumstances can serve to advance the gospel

So Paul the evangelist and church-planter is in prison. So we naturally think, “That’s really bad for evangelism. Lord, you should have seen that was an own goal.” Whereas Paul can see how it served to advance the gospel. Look at Philippians 1.12-13 again:

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

So you can picture the scene. Each new guard for Paul arrives, and after a few minutes he says, “So what are you in for?” And Paul says “Talking about Jesus”. And the guard says “Who’s he?” And Paul’s off, telling him the gospel. And it’s a four hour shift, so the guard basically gets Christianity Explored in one session – minus the videos, drinks and nibbles. And then at change-over time, the new guard comes in and has exactly the same conversation, while the first one goes off to the canteen and says to his mates “‘I’ve just had the weirdest conversation in my life – wait till you hear this…” Until many more people have heard the gospel. So Paul looked for how his circumstances were serving the advance of the gospel because that’s what mattered to him most. And if you’d asked him why that mattered most, he’d have said “Because the gospel is true for everyone and needed by everyone”.

So you may just be looking into all this, and don’t know much about Paul. Well, he was one of the eye-witnesses who actually saw Jesus risen from the dead. And from being totally anti-Christian, that convinced Paul that Jesus really is the Son of God, and that that’s true for everyone; for you, me, atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, you name it. But thinking back from Jesus’ resurrection, Paul then had to make sense of why the Son of God would end up dying on a cross. And he came to see that Jesus dying on the cross had been taking the judgement for everything we’ve done wrong, so we could be forgiven without God compromising his justice. And Paul was convinced that that’s needed by everyone if we’re to be put right with God now, and welcomed into his presence when we die. So, the gospel is true for everyone and needed by everyone. Which means if you’ve not yet put your faith in Jesus, what matters most is sorting that out. And if we have put our faith in Jesus, what matters most is helping more people hear about him – and that’s the mindset we need for looking at our circumstances.

So just think of the Roman imperial guard. It was probably impossible for your average Christian to reach them with the gospel. So what did God do? He planted Paul right in the middle of them as a prisoner. And Paul looked at his circumstances (hard circumstances that he had every reason to wish were different) and said “God’s put me here to advance the gospel”. And in the same way, the Lord has planted every Christian here where we can each uniquely advance the gospel. So you may be saying “I wish I wasn’t the only Christian in my family or my student accommodation, or my workplace, or my team or whatever – I wish my circumstances were different” but God is saying “I’ve put you there to advance the gospel”.

I don’t know if you remember the old Heineken advert:

Heineken reaches the parts that other beers cannot reach.

Well, if you’re a Christian, God has planted you uniquely where you can reach the people that other Christians can’t reach. You’re spiritual Heineken. (Are you allowed to use beer adverts in sermons? You are now…Martin Luther would). So we need to look for how our circumstances can serve to advance the gospel – especially when our first instinct is to say, “They don’t! They seem to be really bad for evangelism”. That’s what most of us were thinking about lockdown church. And yet we had one of our most fruitful years of Christianity Explored ministry – online, which none of us had dreamt of doing. And that’s what new Mums often think as their world closes in around this newborn baby – how does this advance the gospel? And then you realise it throws you together with other Mums and opens up great, new opportunities. And even in the hardest of circumstances, we need to look for how God is using them to advance the gospel.

So I have married friends called Richard and Anna and in their thirties, with young children, Anna got cancer and went through very serious surgery and chemo. And that was successful (in the end) but for several years her life hung in the balance, during which non-Christian friend after non-Christian friend phoned up or visited. And Richard and Anna would say it was probably the best time of their lives for sharing the gospel because people who’d never responded to invitations to hear the gospel were now asking them all about what was keeping them going. So that’s lesson 1 from Paul’s mindset: Look for how your circumstances can serve to advance the gospel. Then lesson 2 is:

2. Think how your example can embolden other Christians to speak about the gospel

Look on to verse 14. Not only have more people heard the gospel from Paul, through his hard circumstances, but Philippians 1.14:

And most of the brothers and sisters [in other words, the other Christians in Rome], having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

I led one Christianity Explored group a while ago and a couple of new Christians in it said they’d already been knocked back by how friends and workmates had reacted to their new faith. And we talked about how on the one hand, you want to tell people about Jesus, but on the other hand especially once you’ve been knocked back, you’re tempted not to because you’re worried about what they’ll think or say or how it’ll affect your relationship with them. And that’s when we need the example of Paul and other suffering Christians (both in the news today, and in Christian biographies) to embolden us. For example, I remember reading a book called Vanya (by Myrna Grant) about a young Russian Christian of that name who was persecuted and ultimately martyred in the former Soviet Union. And I’d just come to faith at school, where there was a lot of hostility to Christians and to the Christian Union and I was experiencing my first, mild bit of persecution. But reading Vanya put it all into perspective. For example, how he was made to stand outside undressed in the freezing Russian night to try to break him. And hearing about Paul, or Vanya, or other countless examples makes you think “If they were willing to suffer that to make Jesus known, shouldn’t I be willing to suffer something (or suffer more) myself?”

So we need those examples which embolden us, but we also need to think how our example can embolden other Christians, especially when we’re the older and more experienced Christian. So at a sixth formers’ or student party, maybe you’re there with a younger Christian, and it only takes you to say “No, I’m not doing that – I’m a Christian” to embolden them to say it, too. Or I think of a senior Christian doctor I know who’s had generations of JPC medical students do a rotation with him and time and again those students have said to me “He’s given me confidence to be upfront about my faith. I didn’t realise how you could do that, until seeing his example”. Or maybe you’re an older Christian teacher who’s confident enough to do an unashamedly Christian assembly, and face the flak that may come. Which gives confidence to a younger teacher to be open about being a Christian. That’s lesson 2 from Paul’s mindset: Think how your example can embolden other Christians to speak about the gospel. And finally, lesson 3 is this:

3. Be glad of other Christians’ gospel work – whatever they think of yours and you think of theirs

Just look back to Philippians 1.14:

And most of the brothers and sisters [the other Christians in Rome], having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

But Paul then divides those other Christians into two groups (Philippians 1. 15-17):

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 defence of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

Which leaves you wondering what was going on, because Christians are supposed to be on the same side – all playing for Jesus. But some were treating Paul like a rival, and trying to do him down. Which is like Guimaraes tackling Joelinton as he’s about to score, or Lascelles putting the ball in his own net. Or like that crazy fight on the pitch between Kieran Dyer and Lee Bowyer – if you’re old enough to remember that low-point of Newcastle football history (among many).

So what was going on? Well, these people were all Christians and they were all preaching the Jesus of the Bible – Paul doesn’t say anyone’s message was dodgy. The difference was their attitude to Paul. So group number one (in Philippians 1.16) loved Paul and understood that God had put him there in prison, to defend the gospel to the Emperor. Whereas group number two (in Philippians 1.17) didn’t like Paul and probably criticised him for ending up in prison through unwise ministry. They probably said “If only he’d done things differently, he wouldn’t have made unnecessary enemies and landed up in unnecessary trouble”. Implication: “We don’t make mistakes. Our gospel work is so much better than his. And it’s actually good that he’s off the scene in prison – because it leaves the field clear for us”. How does Paul respond? Look at Philippians 1.18:

What then? [In other words, what really matters in all this?] Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

What a godly mindset. Isn’t it, because they’re bad-mouthing Paul – and he could doubtless have said some things about the weaknesses of their gospel work. But he just says “The main thing is that they’re preaching the Jesus of the Bible, and and in that I rejoice”. So the final lesson here is be glad of other Christians’ gospel work whatever they think of yours and you think of theirs. Now that only applies to other Christians who are preaching the Jesus of the Bible. Paul would never say “I know the church down the road denies that Jesus rose from the dead, or that living for him means accepting there’s only one right context for sex but I rejoice in what they preach”. He could only rejoice if the Jesus of the Bible was being preached. But his point is that it’s all too easy for Christians who are doing that to criticise one another, and show envy and rivalry towards one another – and even to wish one another off the scene.

So one example is how some Christians are really critical of university Christian Unions because of their inherent weakness of relatively inexperienced student leadership. Some would even say CUs shouldn’t exist – that they’re ‘unbiblical’ and that gospel work should only be done through churches. But wouldn’t Paul look at CUs and say, Philippians 1.18:

Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

Or another example is the re-launch of St Thomas’s. Various people have asked me “Are you worried about the effect it’ll have on JPC? And are you worried about them attracting more students?” To which my answer is no I’m glad for the effect it’ll have on Newcastle. And with 40,000 students in town, ten JPCs and ten St Thomas’s would still only be scratching the surface. In other words, If Christ is proclaimed, in that I rejoice. Don’t you? Well, we began with that quote about how:

the tide has shifted…And increasingly, Christianity is viewed as the bad guy [Being the bad guys, Stephen McAlpine, Good Book Co.]

And that’s right. Our culture has changed, and is changing rapidly, in a way that makes living and speaking for Jesus harder. Which makes it tempting to keep our heads down, and wait for it to become easier again but things may not get easier for Christians any time soon. Which is why we need to take on board this mindset we’ve seen in Paul, and above all, the first and main lesson of tonight, which is that we need to look for how our circumstances (our personal circumstances and our cultural circumstances) can serve to advance the gospel. Because personal and cultural circumstances don’t get much harder than the ones Paul was in, but if God works in us the mindset he had, then we’ll keep living and speaking for Jesus as he did.