Straining forward... there must be more

Philippians 3: 1 - 16

This is one of my favorite passages of scripture. There are lots of reasons why I love it, but what strikes me in particular about this passage of scripture is the honesty that Paul writes it with.

He starts out in verses 1 – 3 by pointing us all to the fact that our walk as Christians is something that we cannot do successfully on our own. Human effort, human rules and regulations just do not cut it. His reference to circumcision shows that perhaps there were those that had fallen into the trap of thinking that the Jewish laws and customs were a prerequisite to a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

In verses 4 – 6, he presses this point further by making statements like, “If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!”

From what we know about Paul, it is safe to assume that Paul was a highly educated man and had achieved a lot not only in terms of his education and scholarliness as shown through the complexity of some of the letters that he writes, but also in his zeal to follow the Jewish law to the letter. He was widely traveled and had been highly successful with planting and building churches all throughout the Roman Empire and yet he looked at all his achievements and still considered them nothing.

Verses 7 – 11 give us a little insight into his thoughts. He says that once he thought of all of these things as important and he worked hard to get them all, but when compared to what Christ had done for him, they paled in comparison.

I could spend time talking about other people and how this should challenge them, but let me make it a little more personal. I think that I’ve done a lot with my life, and one of the things I promised myself is that I would try to spare no expense to experience new things, learn new concepts, and give my time, energy and resources to my faith and profession both in my former life as an IT specialist and in my current role as a paid facilitator of worship.

As I have continued to use whatever gifts God has given me, I have seen doors open and I have seen lives be changed. I have led worship and played music for a handful of people, and I have played before thousands. I’ve been able to use my gifts on more than 2 continents and for the past 3 years I led the really large worship and prayer gathering at the scotiabank place. I have every reason to be confident in these things and boast about them…

However, Paul says something that cuts me down to shape. Compared to the priceless gain of just KNOWING Jesus, everything I can do, have done, or will ever do is nothing! Why? Because I have not yet achieved as much as he had back then; I probably never will! He counts his achievements as garbage and therefore, I MUST count mine as garbage too when compared to knowing and experiencing the fullness of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul resolves that the only way his life shall really count for something is through really knowing Christ, and EXPERIENCING the power that raised him from the dead.

The next couple of verses, 12 – 14, are equally challenging for me. These verses paint a picture of a man in a race. Not a sprint and definitely not a stroll. A marathon! They show a man who has determined that he will continually strive, and focus all his energies on being ALL that Christ Jesus saved him to be. They show a man who realizes that it will not be a short and sweet process, but a long and sometimes painful process. They show a man who is not content to bask in today’s victories and achievements until they become the stagnation and rot of past glory; they show a man who is hungry for more… a man that constantly says to himself:

“There must be more to Christianity than this and I will not stop straining forward to know and experience it! There must be more to Christianity than this and I will not stop straining forward to know and experience it!”