I was reading Philippians 3 today. There are truths here that are too deep, too wonderful, too terrible for me to want to understand. And yet I do want to understand. Paul writes:
Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith
– Philippians 3:8-9 (ESV)
I wonder what it’s like to lose all things and consider them rubbish after the losing. All things? I’m too invested in this world, I’m too secure in my multi-layered safety nets. I’m too secure in my own righteousness.
Paul, on the other hand, had skin in the game, literally. In fact, he’d already lost quite a bit of his skin for the sake of the gospel.
– that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
– Philippians 3:10-11 (ESV)
. . . and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death . . .
This is where we begin to understand what loving God is like. I tell God that I love him all the time, yet I wonder. Will I be willing to share in his sufferings when my number is called?
Paul understood and lived a life aligned with Christ’s sufferings. He identified himself with the rogue Galilean who had been executed in the backwater land of Judea years earlier. Paul made the authorities nervous. He and those of like mind (the “Christians” they were derisively called) were beginning to topple some important structures. They spoke of another kingdom, which their Christ had inaugurated and had commanded them to take to the world. They appeared insane enough to carry their mission to its logical conclusion, no matter how many of them had to be nailed up.
They made people uneasy.
To be honest, they make me uneasy too.
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
– Philippians 3:12-16 (ESV)
Lord, you have made me your own. I know, with increasing lucidity, that I don’t deserve this. Grace is so beautiful.
To strain forward to the goal, to stretch toward the upward call, not the call of the status quo, must be my desire. Yet even the desire is something I can’t manufacture on my own. I am not mature, but I know you have promised to reveal the steps ahead, in your time, as you mature me.
In the meantime, I pray that I will hold true to what I have attained, because it was you who attained it.
May I begin to grasp these deep, wonderful, and terrible truths.
Bill, wonderful post. I have wondered many times if I would be willing to suffer – really suffer– for the sake of Christ. It’s so easy to say of course I would, but I know myself all to well – and I wonder. Thank God we have the picture of Paul in his suffering and we can know that it was Christ who gave him the grace and strength to endure everything he went through. Should our time come, we have hope in that Christ will sustain us to the end as well.
Blessings to you.
Well said, Donna
Props on using the ESV[WOOT WORD FOR WORD TRANSLATION!].
Francis schaeffer has this crazy emphasis on history in everything he says, I think he probably says the word “history” so often it drives me nuts. I realize he was combatting liberal theology at the time. But he placed a real concrete emphasis on the historical, this or that. But anyway, Eventually torwards the 3rd chapter of true spirituality he culimates it all together and gives us clean advice for “True spirituality”. I’m butchering it up completely, so don’t kill me. I don’t really understand what i’m typing fully it is still something I am trying to think through.
“this is the basic consideration of the christian life. First, Christ died in history. Second, Christ rose in history. Third, we died with christ in history, when we accepted Him as our Savior. Fourth, We will be raised in history, when He comes again. Fifth, we are to live by faith now as though we were now deas, as though we have already died. And sixth, we are to live noy by faith as though we have now already ben raised from the dead”
Now, I don’t understand the last part too well, but I think you can see how this connects to your post. In 2 cor 12 Paul emphasizes a man he knew, who had died, and come back. I think its paul, and I think you do too [assuming you believe it according to tradition and so on]. Francis schaeffer basically says this “That in our thoughts and lives now we are to live as though we had already died, been to Heaven, and come back again as risen”
Paul, having died, been to heaven, and come back, Schaeffer comments. “would anything look the same again?”
How.. can Paul consider these things rubbish? or “skubalon” or “the S word”, Because he has seen the real thing, he has come back to this earth. “how could he conform to this which is so marred, so broken, so caught up in revolution against God? How could he in comparison to what he had seen?”
Anyway, I just babbled, I’ve sorta ripped this out of context, I hope you would read it in context, or that somehow this would make sense.
I don’t really understand it but I strive to, but its still worth mentioning. We somehow, ought to strive to live as if we have already died and come back seeing the worthlessness of possession and the absolute value of human life.
about insanity: 2 cor 5:13
about suffering: phil 1:29
about making people uneasy: gal 1:10
God Bless!
–I hope I atleast provided you something to do/read incase you were bored.
Steven.
That’s a really good point, Steven. If we look with eyes that have seen heaven the stuff of earth can look pretty skubalonish.
Ahhh. Good old skubalon 🙂 – believe it or not, you’re the second person this week who I’ve heard use that word (and before that I’d never heard it).
Oh, yeah – I love the ESV!!!
Woot!
Who else? AJ?
no. ha. at least i dont think so