ENVY & RIVALRY AMONG CHRISTIANS
(Friday, October 11)
“…and most of the brethren have been made confident in the Lord because of my imprisonment, and are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear. 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 defense of the gospel; the former proclaim Christ out of partisanship, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in that I rejoice.” (Phil 1: 14-18)
As we see from St. Paul’s words, there’s nothing new about envy and rivalry among those who preach Christ. It’s not surprising, because envy and rivalry are most likely to occur between peers, and not between those of different walks of life. Already in the time of St. Paul these phenomena reared their ugly heads in the Christian community at Rome, where he was imprisoned. There, certain other preachers envied his popularity, and undermined it in their public sermons, while St. Paul was incarcerated. But the great Apostle to the Gentiles makes the best of this bad situation, even while he does acknowledge it, and he rejoices that the name of the Lord was spread, even by the envious preachers. He chooses to focus on the glory of God, rather than his own.
And that’s the answer to envy and rivalry, if I am tested by it: Refocus on the one-and-only glory of God. In practical terms, that means, re-connect with God and with your own vocation, whatever that may be, like a worker among workers. God’s unifying grace helps me not be distracted by harmful comparisons or preoccupations with others, whatever they may be doing, or how they may be doing it, whether sincerely or otherwise. Lord, let us do whatever we’re doing out of love for You, – and in You, for one another, so that we can do what we need to do, not to prove or affirm ourselves, but to contribute a bit, by Your grace.
