Philippians 2:21

‘For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.'

That this phrase is not to be applied too widely comes out in what he goes on to say about Epaphroditus, nevertheless it reveals a sad state of affairs in that it brings out that there were few who were with him at that time whom he could really trust as being wholly concerned with ‘the things of Jesus Christ'. We can compare ‘Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world' (2 Timothy 4:9), indicating not total backsliding, but a mind that placed the things of this world before the things of God. It may well be that Paul had sounded out one or two possible candidates and had been rebuffed by them because they were ‘too busy'. (The choice was probably not wide as the lack of mention in the closing salutations suggests that Paul had none of his faithful lieutenants with him). Sadly it is a description of the state of the majority of church members today. While they are not totally unconcerned about the Gospel and the spiritual state of people, it is by no means their primary concern. Other things take precedence. They are busy about ‘their own things'. This is in total contrast to the One described in Philippians 2:6 Whose sole concern was to please His Father, and also in contrast to Timothy.