Proclaiming Christ

Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I have been put here for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition.... 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.

- Philippians 1:15-18

In the past, I used the inconsistency of Christians and the history of the church as an excuse to reject the reality of Christ. I couldn't understand how Christ's message could be true when so many of the fruits of Christianity were rotten? But after my conversion, I began to see that though The Word has been carried forward imperfectly through time, Christ's original message remains intact. Why? There have always been those who truly love God, whose hearts are open to the Spirit and who have remained true to Christ's message of Love and fogiveness. The Word is indeed living. So, I have come to agree with Paul that, while Christ's message is often proclaimed out of false motives, we can rejoice that the Holy Spirit still moves us to proclaim Christ as our Lord and Master.