A Spiritual Snipe Hunt

“holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain” (Philippians 2:16).

Ever been on a snipe hunt? If you have, you’ll never forget it. And you’ll never go again. A snipe hunt is essentially a wild goose chase…minus the wild goose. You take some unsuspecting sucker into the woods and spend the night looking for the rare and elusive snipe. It’s so rare and so elusive that it doesn’t exist. After several hours tromping around in the wilderness at night, the victim realizes they’ve been duped. They’ve wasted time and effort (not to mention a good night’s sleep!) for nothing. 

Paul is hoping his trip to Philippi hasn’t been a colossal waste of time. From his prison cell in Rome, the apostle writes to his Philippian friends encouraging them to keep telling everyone who will listen about Jesus. If they don’t, he worries that his trip to the Macedonian port city has been a time suck. He encourages them to keep “holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain” (v16). Dr. Luke describes those crazy days back in Philippi in his sequel to the Gospel that bears his name (Acts 16:12-40). People trusting Jesus. Demon possession. Citywide riots. Angel-led prison breaks. Yeah, it was a whole scene. Eventually Paul and his posse left town for Thessalonica. While God used the apostle to do some amazing things during his time there, the man from Tarsus hopes the message of the Gospel continues on. Otherwise, this was a waste of time. Otherwise, this was a snipe hunt.

After dropping the lyrics of a first century hit worship tune about Jesus (Phil 2:6-11), Paul motivates his readers to continue their lives of obedience. Explore what it means to be saved by God by realizing it’s God who gives you the desire to obey (Phil 2:12-13). Stop whining and instead stand out from the rest of society like lighthouse on a dark night (Phil 2:14-15). An important part of obeying God is “holding fast to the word of life” (v16). At first glance this might appear to be orders to choke my Bible with some sort of MMA submission hold. A closer look at the original language clues us in on something just a little different. When the ESV translators give us “holding fast,” Paul uses the Greek verb epecho. It can mean to hold on to something. But the term can also mean to offer, present, or be ready to respond with a particular item. It’s a compound word that literally means “to hold across.” Picture holding out and offering something of tremendous value. In this case, that something is the incredible news of Jesus’ invitation of a relationship with God.

The apostle knows if these believers continue spreading the Gospel his days in Philippi weren’t wasted. “In the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain” (v16). Once our Savior makes His jaw-dropping encore, He’ll reveal once and for all what really matters. We’ll finally see if what we chased in our lives lasts in the eyes of God. One day Paul knows he’ll see Jesus face-to-face again. He’ll never forget the time the Lord supernaturally ambushed him on his search-and-destroy mission to capture and kill Christ’s followers in Damascus (Acts 9:1-5). That was the day God transformed Saul from the number one enemy of the church into Paul, the number one spokesman for Jesus. The apostle longs for the “day of Christ” (v16) when Jesus returns. 

When the resurrected Christ comes back, Paul wants more than anything to be proud of what God did through him among the Philippians. Their passion to hold out the message of Jesus to their friends and neighbors lets him know he “did not run in vain or labor in vain” (v16). “Vain” is the Greek word kenos, which means empty, void, containing nothing, futile, worthless, or of no purpose. Did apostle and his team work their tails off for the Good News to simply stop with Lydia the fashionista, a former slave girl, the jail warden, and his family? Not to say these lives weren’t important in God’s eyes and celebrated in heaven, but it would be empty for the rest of Philippi if the message of grace stopped with them. Otherwise it would be in vain. A complete waste of time. A snipe hunt.

Several Bible translations bring out this beautiful imagery of offering the Gospel to a lost and dying world. “Holding out [to it] and offering [to all men] the Word of Life, so that in the day of Christ I may have something of which exultantly to rejoice and glory in that I did not run my race in vain or spend my labor to no purpose” (v16 AMP). The Message paraphrases Paul and reads, “Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing” (v16 The Message). Hold out the wonderful word of life. Offer it to everybody. Carry it in such a way that it shines brightly in a dark world. Don’t be greedy. Don’t be selfish. 

The application of this verse sits in the corner like the proverbial elephant in the room. (This makes me wonder, how did the elephant get in the room to begin with? How did it even get into the house? Is it sitting on the couch?) Okay, I digress. Paul’s point to both the Philippians and to everyone else who opens this little letter is obvious. I need to continue telling others about Jesus’ amazing message. Continue offering the Good News. Continue holding out the Gospel to those around me. Continue carrying the light-giving grace. Don’t let it stop with me. Keep living a life of love, mercy, and forgiveness. Keep telling others. If I don’t, those who were kind enough to hold it out to me will have wasted their time. Back in the seventies, the great theologian Freddie Fender sang about "wasted days and wasted nights." I can't let the investment others made by telling me about Jesus simply be a waste of their days and nights. I need to do everything I can to make sure this wasn’t just a spiritual snipe hunt.