“8 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 9 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— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
- Philippians 3:8-11
In Paul’s days, there were a few things that distinguished Christians from Jews. To many Roman Leaders, they thought of Christians as just another Jewish Sect, one of many! Yet in reality, Christianity was a distinct group launching out of Jewish communities into Gentile communities, a new group that in Christ united the two groups into one. This would lead to some of the earliest conflicts that we see addressed in scripture.
One of the many conflict areas was the practice of circumcision. According to Jewish law and practice, those who join the Jewish community and become part of God’s people would have to be circumcised. Some Jews felt the same should still happen for Gentiles (who made the majority of the Philippian community) when they came into the Christian community. To this, Paul labels those Jews as dogs, evildoers, and mutilators of the flesh.
False Glory:
Here’s the big problem with it all. The Jews were still finding glory and security of their salvation in their keeping of the law. So they continued in all the practices, thinking that keeping them is what saved them. It was a false glory, one that did not give glory to God but focused on their own flesh and abilities to be righteous.
Paul understands this clearly and even goes on to say that of most Jews he could have the fleshiest confidence. He was thoroughly Jewish, circumcised according to the law on the 8th day, and born into the tribe of Benjamin (apparently a “purer” tribe). He says he was and is a true Hebrew, a Pharisee who kept the law the strictest it could be held and even went so far as to persecute Christians (perceived as a rogue Jewish cult). By all these accounts he was blameless, and if Jewish leaders at the time were to judge between Paul and Jesus, they would say Paul was purer.
In all this, Paul esteems it as nothing, worthless rubbish that means zip. He recognizes that due to Christ, all these things that would label Paul as “righteous” are truly meaningless. They have no lasting power to make him righteous before God. Thus, making Gentile converts circumcise would be rubbish, for in Christ they are already righteous.
Our debates today don’t typically lend us to circumcise. Yet there are other ways we glorify our flesh rather than Christ. We count others out of being in Christ’s Kingdom as if we can even judge that. Sometimes it's because they belong to the opposite theology, or a different tradition altogether, instead of looking at their pure devotion to Christ. Other times we look at their political views, and clearly if they lean away from where we stand then they couldn’t be true Christians, as if Christ’s Kingdom hinges on how we vote. If it’s not theology, no politics, then it must be personality; they are just unchristian with how they act, think, speak…
Rubbish… Theology is important but if it takes control of the throne, it's rubbish. Politics has its place in this world but it's literally just that, in this world, it's rubbish. Personalities reveal the inner workings and creativity of God but if we judge others by them, it's rubbish. We must not allow good things to become God things and think that somehow legalistically determining who is in or out helps with anything.
Christ’s Glory:
All else should be considered rubbish when in comparison to the righteousness, glory, and mercy that stems from Christ. Paul was completely fine casting every privilege aside because he came to know Jesus and know that Jesus is everything he needs and more. For Christ is not glorified in circumcision, theology, politics, or personality. He is glorified in faith. Righteousness from God comes through, depends on, and hinges on our faith. Faith, according to our passage, looks to Jesus and knows that He was really raised from the dead, that through His life and death humanity is extended the opportunity of eternal life.
Faith in action leads us to live like Christ. To advance the Gospel as He did. To have such great affection for others as He did. To consider others as greater than ourselves as He did. To share in His sufferings and death as He is present with us in ours.
Christ is glorified in our faith in His righteousness. Christ is glorified in giving His righteousness to those who have faith.
We cannot allow our flesh and our conflicts, and our opinions to get a hold of the throne that is rightfully Jesus’. Everything else should be considered rubbish in comparison to the great value of knowing Christ as Lord and Savior.
Final Blessings:
This is about properly prioritizing Christ and His grace, mercy, and peace above everything else. It’s about looking to Him in our times of need. It’s about resting and relying on His righteousness and relying on nothing that we could produce on our own. That is what it means to center your life on Christ, to be centered on His righteousness, and to be assured in salvation through faith in Christ. So consider all else, our flesh, our theology, our politics, our personalities, all as rubbish in comparison to Christ. While not all that is bad, certainly theology is very helpful for maturing in our faith, but it can still do nothing apart from Christ.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breath, and every heartbeat of your journey!
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