What I Gained - Is It Garbage?
What is more, I consider everything a loss because of
the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have
lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ. Philippians
3:8
Howard Hendricks
in his book Living By The Book asks
an important question to all of us. “What will you have to show for your life
when you stand before Jesus Christ? A good job? A
college degree? Money in the bank? Lots of friends? A large reputation? A
successful career? The praise of others? A winning record? A bagful of awards? President
and CEO?
If that’s all
you’ve got to show for your life, then you really don’t have much going for
you. Sooner than you think, you’ll be lying in a box six feet underground with
grass growing over your head. And all the things of this life won’t matter at
all. Someone else will have your money and your job. Your fame will fade, your
glory will disappear, and everything you now own will belong to others and
someone else will be sitting in your pew at church. You will eventually be
forgotten except by those people who stumble on your gravestone 100 years from
now and say, “I wonder who this guy was.”
Howard Hendricks
further says: “Only two things in this
world are eternal—the Word of God and people. It only makes sense to build
your life around those things that will last forever.” The Word of God will
last forever. People last forever. Everything else disappears.
The apostle Paul
couldn’t have agreed more. He was one sharp cookie himself. He was
a Jew who was of the line of Abraham and who had been trained intensely as a
Pharisee. He also had the privilege of being a Roman citizen. He
likely was fluent in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Aramaic, and probably more.
Paul had knowledge. Paul had status. By worldly standards, Paul had
power.
But listen to
what he writes to the Philippians: “What
is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of
knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.” His
response? So what?! None of those worldly things really
matter. It didn’t matter that Paul was a Jew. It didn’t matter that
he was circumcised. It didn’t matter that he had special status as a
Roman citizen. All of that meant nothing. Or as he said, “I consider everything a loss.” Paul
tossed everything to the side and allowed himself to lose all things because
everything of this world is nothing “compared
to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
He speaks more
strongly than that even. He continues, “I consider them rubbish that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”
Rubbish
was quite the bold word to use when writing to Greeks. In Greek it meant
more than just rubbish. It meant trash, garbage, and very often dung or
feces. Think of the most disgusting, stinking, heaping pile of junk that
you might find today in a compost heap or in a sewer. That’s what rubbish
meant in Greek. And that’s what Paul considers everything in this world
when compared to knowing Christ and being a part of his family.
These bold words
are just as meaningful today. We can often feel like insignificant little
serfs in this society. So many around us have so much more than we
have. Others have bigger houses, bigger cars, better jobs, better
retirement plans, more money, or more possessions. On the flipside, at
times we might feel quite important and special. It can be easy for us to
feel special when we do know something someone else doesn’t or when we can do
something someone else can’t. Then we too get caught up in the worldly
quest for knowledge and power.
Paul’s
response? So what?! Everything in this world is a loss. It’s
rubbish. It’s dung or feces. What does it really matter to have
cars or houses or knowledge or status or money? So what if you’re rich or
a celebrity or even a boss or a manager? Everything in this world is
rubbish compared to “the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus”
and being found in him.
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