All the Rest

so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. (Philippians 1:13 ESV)

Who are the important people in our culture? Politicians? Celebrities? Doctors? Lawyers? Whom do you esteem most highly? We live in an age when everyone wants their moment in the sun. Everyone wants to be in the limelight. Social media has made celebrities out of the most unlikely, and sometimes the most unseemly, people. Fame--everyone seems to want it, or at least to be associated with it.

If we were to assume that this is just the old human nature in the midst of a new era of technology we would probably be close to the target. People have always longed for notoriety or to be associated or affiliated with notorious people. Nowadays they just have easier access to that. What is sad, though, is when the Church falls into this trap.

Somehow, somewhere, some of us have gotten the idea that it is of vital importance that we have some famous name associated with our cause--as if the name of Jesus Christ is not enough. We long to see celebrities become Christians as if having a 'celebrity' in the Church will somehow legitimize our cause.

It works that way on a local level as well. For some reason we think that if a prominent doctor or lawyer or other citizen of the community is a member of our church that gives our message and ministry more credibility than it would have otherwise. But what about "all the rest"?

You see, when Paul spoke of the advancement of the gospel, he noted, as proof of that assertion, that it had "become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that" his imprisonment was for Christ. Are we as concerned about all the rest as we are about the prominent ones?

When John the Baptist was at the end of his life and facing death by execution he sent a couple of his disciples to Jesus to double-check and make sure that Jesus was the One. (Doesn't it give you comfort on some level to know that even the greatest of saints had their moments of doubt?) Jesus responded to John by pointing out the things that had been the hallmarks of his ministry, things that demonstrated that he was fulfilling, indeed being, what the prophet Isaiah had said Messiah would be. Here's what he said:

“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” (Luke 7:22-23 ESV)

It is important that the good news of Christ be shared with everyone. The prominent people in the community, and in the world, should definitely hear it. But it is vitally important that the poor hear it, too.  Not just the world's "successful" people, but the failures, the downtrodden, the victims (and also the victimizers), the people who have nothing to add and nothing to offer, the offscouring of the earth, the so-called dregs of society, all the rest, they especially need to hear the gospel for they are often the ones most ready to receive it.

Do you know to whom Paul preached the gospel? Anyone and everyone who would listen. And whether or not they received it and believed it, they did indeed hear it, and in that God is glorified.