“There’s no such thing as bad publicity”

By John Pearring

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103120.cfm
Philippians 1:18B-26
Luke 14:1, 7-11

Get a load of this verse:

As long as in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.
(Phil 1:18)

Did you see it, too? Whether in “pretense” or in truth, Paul rejoices that Christ is proclaimed. Can’t just be me. That’s strangely familiar to today’s common public relations seeming oxymoron, mostly sourced to P.T. Barnum, the 19th Century showman:

“There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”

Is this true even with Jesus? 

Oscar Wilde is famous for saying:

“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”

Oh my. These two fellas don’t engender enthusiasm for ethical truth, but they are easily and quickly known to most people. They are giants of public relations success. Is Paul confirming the truth that these two espouse?

The word “pretense” that Paul uses means, “An attempt to make something that is not the case appear true.” We can’t gloss over that almost distasteful notion stated by Paul. This uncomfortable PR notion is equally true in today’s social venue. Mentions, likes, retweets, shares, and “follows” identify the strength of a person’s recognition factor. Is this what Paul was talking about? 

How about other translations of scripture? Perhaps other wordings give some wiggle room to the off-putting notion that Paul says any kind of mention of Jesus is worth a joyful response. 

The verse I stated above is from the NAB translation. I reviewed dozens of different study bible translations. (fairly easy to do with the right software tool — I use the “Logos” application.) Almost all of the translations read, “pretense.” The ones who didn’t, though, say “false motives.” So, we are on fairly solid ground that Paul said he rejoices in Christ being proclaimed, whether it is done with false motives or in truth.

How could this be a scriptural acclamation? 

We need to consider the situation of Paul. He was imprisoned when he wrote this letter. His incarceration might have been in Rome, Caesarea, Corinth, or Ephesus. Valid arguments favor all four. No matter. Most of his imprisonments resulted from charges against his preaching the name of Jesus Christ in the public square or in religious circles. Paul wouldn’t shut up about Jesus Christ being the incarnation of the God of creation. “He is, as wholly God, above all other gods.” Pretty outlandish statement even today.

His imprisonment confirms that Paul remained fervent in efforts to preach Jesus Christ. He knew repeated incarcerations would take place. His entire ministry can be boiled down to this — making claims about Jesus Christ and publicizing both the divinity and humanity of Jesus.

In Philippians there is another take on the meaning behind Paul’s “any publicity is good publicity.” The recognition of Jesus as the incarnated God can be expanded with this challenging statement:

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Also, consider the viral nature of bad publicity in Paul’s time and in today’s world. Bad publicity moves very quickly. The thing we forget is that Paul wasn’t lying. He wasn’t making up a story just to get Jesus’ name into the highways and byways. Bad publicity can ruin a person. If the bad publicity is true and not false then a person, a family name, a company, a city, and even an entire nation can be destroyed.

Paul wasn’t worried about the bad publicity for Jesus, because false motives still point to the truth. It’s not just courage to have joy in the face of false statements. It’s trust, isn’t it? If we know that bad things said about Jesus Christ can be used by God to further invoke his name, then yes, we should be joyful at every mention of Jesus’ name.

Today, one of many disappointing changes in human history books can exemplify the bad publicity issue Paul speaks of. Scholars are insistent to remove BC and AD as Before Christ and After Christ. They’re using BCE and ACE, Before the Common Era and After the Common Era. This bothersome and cumbersome change, though, has done quite a bit to focus that time itself hinged upon Jesus’ birth. 

The disappointments are legion — Holy Days being renamed and re-presented as secular days, church buildings and sites in Europe going empty and become tourist spots, and the incredibly short-sited arguments among Christian faiths that only they house theologies and doctrines true to Jesus Christ. These truly awful developments reveal the failure of humans to properly convince others that their faith in Jesus is witnessed. Yet, Jesus Christ is witnessed anyway! 

As Paul says, however, there’s not just a silver lining to these pretenses and false motives about Jesus Christ. There is joy. Jesus Christ remains as much a thorn and a mistaken man now, than at any time in history. His name, however, remains on the lips of everyone. Even as they curse his name in movies, saying loudly or under their breath, “Jesus Christ.” 

In Phillipians, Paul isn’t talking about every knee shall bend as the only joy, any more than he is saying every pretense of Jesus Christ is the only joy. He knows there is joy in the truth of Jesus Christ, and there is the joy in the faithful dropping to our knees when Jesus makes himself present in our lives.

The joy of knees bending at the reality of the creator confirms Jesus as Lord. Even by those who despise Jesus, and Jesus’ name being proclaimed. Even by those who tells lies about who he is.

Those who despise Jesus don’t know his love. He loves them even as they hate him. Those who lie about Jesus may not know they lie, but Jesus loves them, too.

This is our joy. That in our disappointments we can know that every celebrity who uses the PR mantra of being talked about, even if their PR is all lies, exemplify the power of our common connections as brothers and sisters of Christ. Viral communication was designed into us by God himself.

The Holy Spirit moves among us all, and lives within those of us who allow him residence. We can know joy because the Holy Spirit nurtures even the poorest of Jesus' PR for good. We can hope for those who despise and lie about Jesus. Because they acclaim his name. 

When Jesus' name is spoken, written, and even cursed, the opening has been made.