Philippians 1:24 - It's all about people

"But the to be remaining on [in] the flesh [is] more necessary because of you."

-why was paul on earth?  what was his purpose for living?  why was he more than willing to wait before going to be with the One Who is way better?  one word - people.

-the word paul chooses here is epimeno, which is a stronger form of meno (to abide/remain).  thus, it means to remain on/at/with (1corinthians 16.8, romans 11.23, colossians 1.23).  it could involve the idea of persisting or even persevering (1timothy 4.16).  even as paul here begins to unpack the reason why he would continue to live on earth rather than go to be with Jesus (which is way better by far), it is possible that he is thinking that the waiting contains an element of having to persist and choose to do so in the face of hardship and even over and against his own personal desires.

-he says, ‘for your sake’.  because of you.  cf 2corinthians 4.15.  we see that paul was completely committed to living for others rather than self.  he tells us in the next chapter that even within his band of disciples he was surrounded by people who were primarily more interested in themselves and that he could only find one other person who - like Jesus Himself - was selfless enough to be genuinely concerned about the interests of others.  people who put self first are a dime a dozen - they are everywhere, the world is full of them, and the church is full of them.  living for others takes time.  it takes getting out of my own world and interests and taking the time to actually listen to others, to take the time to ask them how they are doing (and listening to the answer in a way that doesn’t make them feel like you are in a hurry), and to find ways to care for them in ways that actually make them feel cared for.  actually deferring what you want in order to take care of the needs and wants of another person or persons - this is preeminently Christlike, Who did not serve Himself but rather (as we will read in chapter 2) emptied Himself and took on the form of a slave and gave Himself up completely in order to serve others (cf philippians 2.7-8, matthew 20.28).  you can see it lived out in the lives of people who are raising their kids or caring for elderly parents - responsibilities which can be extremely exhausting, and we’re talking about your own flesh and blood.  but to give yourself to the Lord in order to serve others outside of your family?  

-for his part, paul was so ready and longing to be with Jesus, but he knew why God had left him here on earth.  living for Christ meant living for others.  it did not contain much margin for recreation or even a form of retirement where you could merely play around and travel and excessively live for self.  he was running the race to win until God called him home.  nor did living for Christ involve a cruise ship, mountain top form of monasticism where you just hang out with Jesus and the band all the time (cf matthew 9.13, mark 1.38), luke 19.10, john 6.38, 10.10).  it meant getting off the mountain and out of the cozy circle of intimates and actually getting messy with other people’s junk.  serving them.  being poured out for them (philippians 2.17).  in fact this entire letter resonates with the theme of living and giving it up for the sake of others.

-this is what Gospel ministry is all about.  it is Good News for the multitudes who bear the image of the One Who created them.  it is about showing them His love.  it is all about people, and serving and caring for them, meeting both their real and felt needs.  sometimes in ministry it is easy to forget this and focus on the program.  it can feel as though people are in the way and are making it harder to pull off the program.  instead of caring for people and serving them we try to manage people for the sake of the program and can wind up just using people in order to benefit the program (or at least that’s how they can be made to feel sometimes).  but people ARE the program.  Jesus did not come to earth to launch a program - He came to love and serve people, to shepherd His sheep.  God gathers people to Himself and blesses them so that they can bless others.  Gospel ministry is about protecting and feeding and caring for and laying down your life for a flock of sheep who are vulnerable and need food and who get lost easily.  following Jesus in Gospel ministry is usually hard, can be thankless - at least in this life, and in some cases it is deadly work (cf matthew 9.36-38, john 10.11-14, 21.15, acts 20.28-31, 1peter 5.1-3).  it requires total commitment and abandonment of self - it is not about me.  i have a long, long way to go.