PRETENSE AND TRUTH IIII

This is the forth entry of dealing with a passage from Philippians 1:18 where Paul, an apostle, wrote “What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.”

The confusion over pretense and truth in many ways did not seem to bother the Lord. One of the most famous records is when the disciples wanted Jesus to make sure who was in the ‘right group.’
“John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.” “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us. If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded.” (Mark 9:38-41 NLT)

It is tough to find out we might not be in the right elite group. Maybe pretenders, liars and greedy religious people have a place we don’t understand or know about. Maybe we are those people and there is another group of ‘right people.’ Jesus said, “Don’t stop them.” No one can do miracles and healings and soon after speak evil of Jesus. Perhaps the Lord uses pretense at times to capture us for the truth. And at other times uses truth to recover us from pretense.
I like the way it is written in the New American Standard Version (the version Jesus carried and used):

“For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.” Jesus