Don't Waste the Pain: Gospel Advances Through Suffering

``Pain preaches. When we are faithful in very difficult times, people pay attention. When my son was diagnosed with cancer, and I would talk about it, people would lean here's what they'd lean in. You know why they're leaning in? How are you doing this? Wait, wait. You and your family aren't completely falling apart, and I'm not saying we didn't have our moments, but they were paying attention to our pain. People are watching you in the circumstances that you find yourself in when it doesn't make sense and it's not working out. That's why you can't be a victim. [00:50:43] (39 seconds)  #PainPreaches

Don't forget the mission. Paul's trying to get back to these people going, this reality is real. Don't forget the mission. Don't forget who you are. Don't forget what's primary and not secondary. And yes, it's hard. And yes, there's crazy stuff. But at the end of the day, our whole lives, all of our lives are all for Jesus. And that we would be one, and Paul will continue on in chapter one and into verse two or into chapter two by going by any means possible, be together. Consider others as more important than yourself with this dynamic that's going on. Why? Because we want people to see Jesus. Unity is not kumbaya, it's kingdom. [02:33:19] (46 seconds)  #MissionFirst

Do you know what I find? So and I'm going to probably do this every time I teach here to some point. Like, the victim stuff is old. It doesn't work. It's making us stick and we need to stop it. Like the woe is me stuff is not working and yet it is so common right now for people to take on this overwhelming identity of victimhood. Paul has none of that. Paul has none of that. In fact, he lets his pain preach. Right? He's like, don't waste the pain. Steward it. Do you know even in the hardest situations of your life, it is an opportunity for you to steward the pain. [02:08:53] (45 seconds)  #StewardThePain

Paul is absolutely resisting that. He is saying, hey, hey, chin up. Don't get in that zone. You need to pay attention. You need to listen to what I'm telling you because in every circumstance, we're winning and I'm moving forward the good news of Jesus Christ in this place, which means this, as Christians, we don't waste the pain. Don't waste the pain. The pain, while it's hard, while it's difficult, while it doesn't make sense, all the questions, all the whys that you have are real and they're human. But the pain is something to be stewarded for the glory of God. [00:39:20] (43 seconds)  #PainForGodsGlory

I need you to understand this. Like you are very concerned for me. Thank you so much. But I need you to pay attention to what I'm about to tell you because it's incredibly important. He said, like even in my imprisonment, the gospel is advancing. This idea of advancing is like the progress of an army. Like it is moving forward. He is not being held down. Do you know what you find Paul not doing? You find Paul not doing victim talk. He's not going, okay God, all these years I've served you. All these years I've loved you. I've been shipwrecked. I've been beaten within an inch of my life and here is where you've got me? In a prison? [02:07:39] (48 seconds)  #GospelAdvances

Don't you wanna take Jesus up on his promise? Don't you wanna just see what he could do if we could learn to have grace and mercy for one another in the body of Christ? Which means this, don't get distracted. Church, don't get distracted. Are we literally saying that politics are more important than unifying so people can come to know Jesus? That we would divide over red and blue, whatever the one in the middle is. We would divide and people don't see Jesus as a result of the fact that we can't get along? Foolishness. It's so important and yet we're so divisive with one another. Paul's going like this is the reality. Don't do it. I just want Christ to be proclaimed. [02:34:18] (71 seconds)  #UnityOverDivision

That you would be one so the world would know the like Paul is just like, I'm in prison, there's this reality that I can't control that's going on, I need you to be aware of it and he's not saying shut those dudes down. What he is saying is as long as Christ is being proclaimed, as long as they're preaching the gospel, let us have diversity in our unity. But the thing we're unified is around Jesus Christ, his death, and his resurrection that all people would come to know him as lord and savior. I want you to know how important this is to Paul because he's giving his life for it and I want you to know how important it was to Jesus because he gave his life for it. [02:36:35] (43 seconds)  #UnityInChrist

Do you see how important you are? You see how much this relationship with Jesus isn't just about you, it has communal ramifications. Do you realize how important your obedience to God is? That call that he has on your life? This isn't about you just having a really cute devotional time because you should. This is about you going, wait, wait, wait, I need to be a light to the world, and the world involves my other brothers and sisters in Christ. Your personal life with Christ has immense communal implications. Immense. And Paul's trying to remind us here is going like this. Look, pain preaches. Do you know that? [00:49:59] (44 seconds)  #CommunalFaith

Like my boldness in the situations that I that I find have a communal impact, which means this, whether you know this or not, you're really important to the kingdom of God. You're really important to this community. Your example is completely and utterly evangelistic. I think oftentimes we're really busy thinking about evangelizing to the lost, and I think that's really important. I think we need to evangelize to Christians. I think we need to remind them of who Jesus is and what does it mean to live a faithful life, that that we are no longer a people that just talk. Are you tired of talk? I am. [00:48:38] (42 seconds)  #EvangelizeTheChurch

What we don't find with Paul here in this passage and all throughout Philippians is this idea of being a victim. You know what he's not doing? He's going, oh my gosh. Life you know, I've been serving God all my life and here I am in prison. Can you believe this? All that I've done for you, Jesus, all that I've done is to serve you, and here's where I find myself at the end of my life. Are you kidding me? The victimhood is what's crushing our culture. I believe almost every time I've taught here, as I'm trying to remind our church, that this idea of being a victim is toxic, and it is invading and permeating the Christian culture. [00:38:24] (55 seconds)  #RejectVictimhood

Paul's going, Christ is here and it can't hold me down and it's encouraging a whole other group of people to be bold and brave. How about you? How about me? Is this gospel of ours just this really cute thing that we like to talk about or is it something that transcends any circumstance that you find yourself in and it becomes a gospel presentation not just to a world that's looking for the love of Christ, but also to the brothers in Christ, the sisters in Christ. This is how we serve our community, both as individuals and corporately. [02:23:47] (40 seconds)  #GospelTranscends

But this is what's happening all the time in the body of Christ. We go like, if you don't think like us, act like us, treat us a certain way, then I get rid of you. I'm done with you. Paul's like, listen, Christ is being proclaimed in this area, in this area. It is complex, it is not easy, and what Paul does according to Timmy to our to Timothy Keller says this, Paul models how to hold doctrinal unity and relational tension at the same time without letting the tension silence the gospel. What he's saying is something is here that is so much more important. [02:31:21] (40 seconds)  #UnityAndLove

And so he starts to try to communicate, this is his last letter that he writes. You know, his life in Philippi was not easy. He went and planted this church on his second missionary journey, stayed about three months, and then had to leave because they were beating the junk out of him. And guess who got to pick up the the the abuse after he left? The church. The church picks up where Paul left off and they just start beating up the people at the local church. But they are just resilient and they're understanding that the king of kings and the lord of lords knows them, loves them, sees them and has commissioned them to go share this good news with their neighbors. [00:35:30] (38 seconds)  #ResilientChurch

In this room, this is real. This is happening. It's a part of being a church. What Paul is saying is there's this group of people and they they they like to kinda kick down instead of encourage. They like to posture and put down. They can't wait for a staff member to do something wrong so they can just get after them. They create these little coos. They're always complaining. And what has happened, Paul doesn't want us to divide. He wants us to go, look, this is going on. A part of deconstruction or church hurt is as a byproduct of some of this stuff that's going on. But the problem is in our culture, we become a victim to it and we've we've called them the others. [02:27:56] (46 seconds)  #EncourageDontAttack

That's really what it says. They're politicians. They're like, let me, you know, I wanna get your vote. So let me tell you a bunch of good stuff. You know what people don't wanna hear? They don't wanna hear, hey, listen, suffer well and glorify God in your suffering. People really don't wanna hear that. What they wanna hear is, if you obey God, you will have riches. You will have blessing. You know, that's why if you look around the world, you will see there's these massive movements of that are preaching Jesus, but with this other thing where they're like, and you can have all of this. They're Vanna White. Right? You can have all of this. And so, this is essentially what Paul's saying is both [02:26:03] (42 seconds)  #RejectProsperityGospel

I want you to be bigger, stronger, powerful. I wanna see the the water level rise at local churches. When other churches grow, bless them. And I know that's the heart of this church and this is the heart of what Paul's saying, it's like I just want Christ to be proclaimed. But if we as individuals, you know GK Chesterton responded to an article once at the height of his pastoral career and it says, what's wrong with the church? And he said simply, I am. And I want you to know this for me, I'm what's wrong with the church, I know it. I'm also what's right. I live in the tension of that paradox, of that reality. But each and every one of us has to say, listen, am I am I just the one that's constantly complaining? [02:39:54] (46 seconds)  #OwnYourPart