Welcome back to Week 4 of my current blogging series, where for the month of January I'm reading, journaling, and writing through the Book of Philippians. This week covered Philippians 2, from verse 25 - 30, and Chapter 3: 1 - 14. For this week's reflection, I'll be focusing on Philippians 3: 4 - 14 ...
We put no confidence in human effort, though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
How do you measure your wealth, or the value of your life?
For some people, the answer is money, for others it's property. For some it could be "likes" or "followers". Some might measure their value by their job description, others by the number of university degrees they hold, while still others might count their value in their sporting achievements.
In this passage of Scripture, Paul tells us that he was wealthy in terms of Jewish pedigree. He had the right heritage, the best education, the right connections, and a brilliant future.
Yet in Philippians 3: 7 - 9, Paul makes this startling confession: "I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith."
The word translated "garbage" in the NLT is translated "rubbish" or "nothing" in other translations of the Bible. In the original Greek, that word is "skubala", and the King James version cuts right to the quick translating the phrase as: "I do count them but dung!"
It's clear that Paul's perspective on what he once thought important was pretty harsh. "You might think you like it," he says to his readers, "but I wouldn't step in that stuff, if I were you!"
After he met Christ, Paul's life journey had been the process of finding a proper perspective, on himself, his values, and his place in the both this world and the Kingdom he now held citizenship of. In the end, all that he once valued, he considered rubbish. But what he had gained - through no doing or earning of his own - that had more value than you could ever put a price on!!
By the time Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians, more than 25 years had passed since his dramatic salvation on the highway to Damascus. And we see that by this point, Paul possessed a maturity only time and perseverance can bring. He was determined to cross his finish line in a full run, eyes focused on what really matters, his identity secure in the One who was calling him home. I'd like to end today's post with this story, which was told by Andy Cook:
A preacher dreamed he had died and was standing in front of the gates of heaven. As it will happen in such make-believe dreams, he came face to face with St. Peter, who was holding a big book and was ready to decide if this man - a preacher -was going to be allowed into heaven.
St. Peter gave him a surprise announcement. "You're going to need 100 points to get inside the gates."
"Well," said the preacher proudly, "I was a minister for 47 years."
"That's nice," answered Peter. "That gets you one point."
"One point?! That's all I get? Just one point for 47 years of service?"
"Yes, that's correct," said Peter.
The minister was concerned at the scoring system. He tried to think of other things he had done in life.
"Well," he said, "I visited shut-ins every chance I got."
"One point."
"I developed a number of recovery programs, and I took part in many civic groups in our city. People loved me!"
"One point. Now you've got three points."
"I worked with youth," said the minister, "and surely you must know what that's like!"
"One more point," said Peter, "and that makes four. You need 96 more points."
"Oh no!" the minister cried out in panic. "I feel so helpless, so inadequate. Except for the grace of God, I don't have a chance."
St. Peter smiled a big smile. "Ah . . . the grace of God! That's good for 96 points. Come on in!"