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Very few people are willing to work for
nothing. We often speak of "dangling a carrot" before someone,
or encouraging people to "go for the brass ring". There is
always something that we put before people to motivate them to action.
There’s a story of a very successful
salesman who went in for his yearly employee review. As he left the boss’s
office, the secretary saw that he was dissatisfied. She asked him what had
happened because his look led her to believe that he had been fired. He
looked at her and said that it wasn’t that bad. Instead of being praised
for the business that he was bringing in he was told he needed to do more.
Later in the day, the secretary talked to the
boss. The boss chuckled and said that this employee was one of the best
and he’d never want to lose such a valuable member of the team. However,
this employee had a tendency to rest no the laurels and be satisfied with
his performance. The boss was convinced that if he didn’t get him mad,
he’d never produce. This is probably not the best way to motivate
people, but occasionally it does work. However, it generally works best on
those that already grasp the "big picture".
Today, we share about the big picture. What is
it that Paul wrote to the church in Philippi? In the verses previous to
this section, Paul wrote about his life (before and after he came to faith
in Jesus Christ). Saul of Tarsus was a go-getter. He strove for the brass
ring. There was nothing and nobody that would get in his way. His desire
was to do whatever it took to achieve greatness and notoriety in his
field. Then he came to faith and he realized the folly of his striving. In
verses 7-8, Paul wrote: "Whatever was to my profit I now consider
loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss
compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…"
Paul’s desire was "to know Christ and the power of his
resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming
like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from
the dead" (3:10).
Having said that, Paul moved into the next
section of the letter:
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been
made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus
took hold of me." Paul knew the power of God at work in his life
and he knew about suffering. Paul had yet to experience death and the
resurrection from the dead. Paul was also aware that he was far from
perfect. Yet, Paul pursued perfection. In v. 15, Paul referred to this as
maturity. There is no person that will ever be perfect in this life.
However, the mark of desiring perfection and striving for the work of the
Holy Spirit in your life is the evidence of growing maturity. We’ll look
more to that later.
Much to my heart’s delight, Paul used a
sports illustration to make his point regarding the Christian life. Paul
described the Christian life like an athlete in a race. Some refer to this
as a footrace, and others look to it as the Greek chariot races. Warren
Wiersbe liked the chariot decision the best because it involved much more
arduous effort physically and mentally. The Greek chariot used in the
Olympic games was only a small platform set between two wheels. The driver
held the reins and strained with every muscle in his body to maintain
balance and speed, while controlling the horses as they moved in tandem
around the track. A minor miscue could cause serious injury or death.
The goal for the racer was to stretch forth
with all that he could to win the race. He needed to live on the edge and
trust that his training would sustain him. It would have been simpler if
the racer had no competition; but he also competed against other athletes
attempting to win the race.
Paul did not refer to our striving to be
saved. He wrote of the impact our salvation had on our lives. To be able
to compete in the games it was necessary to be a citizen. To continue in
the games it was necessary to obey all the rules. The difference between
the games and our lives in faith is that when we come to faith in Jesus
Christ we are able to fully participate in the work of the kingdom of God.
However, if we break the rules we are tossed out of the games, but we are
not tossed out of the kingdom of God. This is especially important as we
look to the rest of this section.
There are several things that we need to
explore as we look at this text:
First, Paul was dissatisfied with the
quality of his life. This is not to say that Paul didn’t know joy in his
salvation. It does not mean that he had a poor self-image. What we mean by
this is that Paul knew that he had a long way to go. He knew that God was
going to complete the work begun in him for the day of Christ (1:6).
He knew that God was at work in him and it was Paul’s responsibility to
work out the reality of this great salvation in the way he lived (vv.
12-13).
Paul was not concerned with where he stacked
up against brothers and sisters in Christ. Paul was focused on where he
stood in comparison to God revealed in Jesus. Too often we compare
ourselves against others when we walk the Christian life. We compare our
efforts to that of others. When we see that we are ahead, or they are just
less talented, we tend to rest on our laurels or judge the efforts of
those that cannot compete.
Most of you heard the true story of my friend
Tom’s hole-in-one. Periodically, some of you still remind me of it.
There are two things that I know: First, I am a far superior golfer than
Tom. Second, he has a hole-in-one and I don’t. Because Tom had that one
great shot, does he see himself as superior? No. In fact, he doesn’t
even compare our golf games. Because I am a better golfer does that mean
that I deserve a hole-in-one more than him? Again, the answer is
"No." We are both dissatisfied with our ability to play the
game. When seasonal, we golf every week (and sometimes we even practice
before we play). We strive to improve our ability to play the game. We
enjoy what we are doing, even when frustrated.
Second, Paul was devoted to the Lord.
The idea of pressing on is tremendously important. We live in an
era of specialization. Though we still can appreciate the handyman, the
specialist (perhaps until recently) was more highly valued. In sports, we
encourage student-athletes to begin to specialize. At first, they will
focus on a position in the sport/sports that they play. Then, we encourage
them to focus on one sport. Unfortunately, there is a tendency to get our
young people to specialize too early. We don’t allow them time to enjoy
the game.
It is the same in our Christian experience. As
much as we need to encourage people to participate, we tend to make them
specialize before they know what their gifts are. Of course, what may be
worse (though not by much) is the willingness to make the young energetic
Christian take on too much. We are not called to do everything. However,
we are to mature in such a way that we exercise our faith in service as we
seek to determine exactly what and where our gifts lie.
That being said, our devotion is not to be to
the church. Our devotion is to the Lord. All that we do is a response to
the love and grace that we have received in our lives. When we consider
all that God has done in securing our salvation we are to be filled with a
sense of wonder and joy. We are to be devoted to the One that gave his
life to redeem us from death.
Third, Paul had direction in his life.
In Hebrews and James, the authors use the ship steering its course through
the waters and its ability to find safe harbor. There are times in our
lives where we believe that we have lost our bearings and we are off
course – and we’re right in our assessment. However, this does not
mean that God has lost direction; and because of that, it is possible for
us to regain direction and steer the course.
Paul had every reason to implode when Jesus
confronted him on the road to Damascus. When Paul was confronted with the
nature of his sin and standing before God, despite his best efforts, he
could have allowed himself to run aground. The direction that Saul of
Tarsus thought so right was tremendously off course. Paul had a choice to
make when he came to faith – become a wreck, or choose a new direction.
"Forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for
which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." In 2
Corinthians 7:10 Paul wrote: "Godly sorrow brings repentance that
leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings
death." When we receive the love of God in Jesus it is because we
have repented. This means that we desire new direction in our lives.
Repentance is more than feeling sorry, there is very little healing in
that. In fact, Paul tells us that if all we feel is guilt there is nothing
to look forward to but death. However, if we have the sorrow that comes
from knowing how far we have missed the mark, we are at a place that leads
us into the arms of the One that will love us always and give
meaning/direction to our lives.
Fourth, Paul was determined. Not only
did Paul press on, he also encouraged those that were to be mature
to be like minded. He knew that without the will to do so, he would not be
able to overcome the obstacles before him. The goal was to attain that for
which God gave him in Jesus – that is, eternal life. There are many
times in the race that we find it easy to give up. Those that have
exercised and dieted understand that there is a time when you "hit
the wall" or you "plateau". There needs to be a willed
determination to fight through that moment to gain the goal that is
already ours in Jesus.
Last, Paul was disciplined. This is a
mark of maturity. Earlier I said that Paul recognized that he was not
perfect. Yet, in the word translated maturity (v. 15), we find that
the Greek word has the same root as perfection. "All those who are
mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think
differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to
what we have already attained."
Those that have received the grace of God
through Jesus, who have the hope of the resurrection from the dead, who
are striving forward to the kingdom, are to live a life worthy of their
calling. Christians are to strive to live to the standard of the rules
that God has ordained, not to the rules that we think apply to us. We are
to submit to the "rules of the game" knowing that we honor and
glorify God when we make this choice.
The wonder of God’s salvation is that even
when we fail we have one that is willing to intercede for us. Even when we
break the rules we are disbarred from the race set before us. However, I
will say that persistent and purposeful rule violations may be an
indicator that you’re not really a part of the kingdom. The net result
of all this is that if we are disciplined in following the will of the
Lord we win the race. It doesn’t mean that we’re the best. We are not
called to be the most successful person, or people, that ever lived. We
are called to be faithful to what we have been entrusted with by God.
Paul said that if we are mature we will share
this mindset. I chuckle when I read the next words: "And if on
some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to
you." In other words, if you believe yourself to be a mature, or
maturing, Christian and you do not agree that we are to be striving to be
more like Christ, then God will make the truth of this plain to you. In
other words, God will get your attention with your own Damascus road
experience.
Brothers and sisters, now is the time to press
forward to the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Now is the time for us
to strain with every ounce of our being to fulfill the will of God in our
lives. Remember Paul’s words to the Ephesian church: "We are God’s
workmanship , created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared
in advance for us to do" (2:10). Let us be all that we have been
created to be so that the kingdom will advance in this world as the day
hastens forward to the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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