Credit

"What does it matter? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice..." (Philippians 1:18)

This morning, I'm remembering a pastor friend from years ago who has since gone to be with Jesus. Several years ago, at the end of a staff retreat, we invited a pastor who lived nearby to share lunch with us. Hunter Colpitts had once served the church I was serving at the time, and was well-loved. So we took him to lunch where he, away from his wife's constant concern, ate things he shouldn't be eating. (She never knew until the story was told at his funeral a couple of years later.)

During the lunch, we talked about life, ministry and the church. At one point, Hunter looked at us, two of us who were brand new in the ministry, and he smiled as he said, "You know, you can get a lot done if you don't worry about who gets the credit." I know Hunter didn't come up with that on his own, but it was the way he had lived and that attitude had shaped his ministry.

Paul, I think, is saying much the same thing in the passage from Philippians. Paul had been a Pharisee, so he had a personality that was concerned about things being done right. He had very clear ideas about right and wrong, about how to live out this Christian life. And yet, when it came to the message of Christ being shared, he came to a place in his life where it didn't matter who got the credit, or even if their motives were pure. He was simply happy that the message was being preached.

Jesus had modeled that for his followers as well. In Mark 9, the disciples come to Jesus all proud of themselves. They had stopped a man from driving out a demon because he wasn't "one of us." See, Jesus? We protected the ministry. We made sure only authorized disciples can do these things. And Jesus took them to task. "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward" (Mark 9:38-41).

What about us? Do we get so hung up on the way things are done or the ones who are getting the credit that we miss the larger picture—that Christ is being preached, that the Kingdom of God is being expanded? May we never "miss it." May we stay focused on the Kingdom work, knowing that a whole lot can get done if we don't worry about who gets the credit.