Philippians 3:8-9 - More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard 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 one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith.
Last week was testimony Wednesday and so tonight we picked up where we left off in Philippians with Pastor Mike.
After discussing Philippians 3:4-9 tonight, we discussed Paul and the attitude he had towards who he was and all he had accomplished. Paul was a Jew, a member of Israel, a Hebrew, one of God's chosen people. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the only tribes that remained faithful in Judah...and Benjamin being the only son born in the Promised Land. He was one of the most highly educated Jews of his time, with the equivalency of two Ph.D.'s by today's standards. Paul was the highest and most honored of religious leaders, a Pharisee and he upheld the laws of his religion zealously. He was legalistically righteous.
After discussing Philippians 3:4-9 tonight, we discussed Paul and the attitude he had towards who he was and all he had accomplished. Paul was a Jew, a member of Israel, a Hebrew, one of God's chosen people. He was of the tribe of Benjamin, one of the only tribes that remained faithful in Judah...and Benjamin being the only son born in the Promised Land. He was one of the most highly educated Jews of his time, with the equivalency of two Ph.D.'s by today's standards. Paul was the highest and most honored of religious leaders, a Pharisee and he upheld the laws of his religion zealously. He was legalistically righteous.
Still, none of this impressed God and it sure didn't gain Paul righteousness in God's eyes, let alone guarantee Paul's salvation.
We looked at my high school yearbook then and the individual lists of activities seniors participated in during their high school years....their "kudos" if you will. We could quickly see that some were involved in almost everything and others in almost nothing. It's human nature to assume that the elite students, the winners, were the students with the long lists of activities next to their names. The losers were the students with one-item lists, like "Chess Club".
Then we talked about what it is that really makes our lives valuable. Paul believed that no honor or activity is worth anything when compared to the privilege of having a relationship with Christ and serving Him. We gave the kids each a piece of paper then and asked them to make a list of everything that they believed that defined them....daughter, violin player, soccer player, gamer, actor/actress, student, boyfriend/girlfriend, best friend, honor roll student, good writer, good artist, photographer, etc... Then we asked the kids to think about which of those things would matter when they stood before Christ someday to give an account for their lives and the way they lived them. We asked them to cross out the other things, the things that gave them what Paul calls "confidence in the flesh". At the bottom of their piece of paper, we asked them to write in all capital letters, "Child of the One True King". We challenged the kids by reminding them that, how they see themselves now and what they are doing now, is a direct reflection of their priorities.
Then we talked about what Paul called all of his accomplishments and previous life activities...how he now saw them in relation to knowing and serving Christ...as RUBBISH. We showed the kids the picture at the top of this blog post. It is a picture of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean. It is hundreds of miles...nearly the size of Texas....of garbage. It's an awesome representation of all of the things millions of people on this earth believe sets them apart, makes them special, gives them value, makes them righteous. But in the end, when they stand before God, it's all just RUBBISH!
We believe that our accomplishments and "good" qualities will earn us our righteousness before God someday...they will somehow impress him. It's like Lt. Hopper in the movie Battleship. In reality, he was jobless, a drunk, he had no car or apartment of his own, and he often lost his temper and got into trouble. Still, he believed that he could impress a hungry girl at a bar who did not know him by acquiring a chicken burrito for her when the kitchen at the bar was closed. he was trying to earn favor in her eyes, the way many of us try to earn favor in God's eyes. The things Lt. Hopper goes through to get the girl this burrito are absurd! In the end, he ends up being tazed by the police, looking pathetic in front of the girl he was trying to impress, gets arrested, and shames his brother who is witnessing his stupidity nearby.
If we take our list of accomplishments, activities, and achievements with us to pridefully boast before God someday in hopes of earning our righteousness, the righteousness that only He can provide, the way we will end up is far worse than even Lt. Hopper did....eternally lost.
