How many of us can truly say along with Paul in his letter to the Philippians that “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…“?
Sure, it’s a nice thought and even a place that we should all (as Christians) arrive at. But if I’m completely honest, I know that I’m not fully at that point yet.
What Paul is saying in his letter to the Philippians isn’t just about physical suffering or losing possessions. He’s counting his very identity as loss and rubbish. Check out what he says just before the verse quoted above:
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. – Philippians 3:3-7
Paul tells his readers who he is in earthly terms. He has all of these achievements and affiliations that allowed him to at one time put his confidence in the flesh, in himself. How often do we put our confidence in our experience, knowledge and skill? How often do we put our confidence in the flesh?
But that’s no way to serve God, because…
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. – Romans 8:8
What does all of this mean?
It means that all that we are, all that we’ve accomplished and all that we have must be nailed to the cross and put to death. Our confidence cannot be in ourselves. We’re not good enough. Jesus didn’t come to fix us, He came to replace us. This is why Paul tells us that we have been crucified with Christ. Our old self is dead and we have been raised to new life in Christ Jesus.
We are a new creation in Christ. Not a repaired creation.
We once lived our lives for ourselves. Our achievements and talents were meant to further our own lives, our own glory. But now those things are of no avail. Now we must stop living for ourselves and live unto God in Christ and through Him.
What about using our natural talents for a new purpose, to serve God?
Regardless of how pure our motives may be, we can’t serve God based on our fallen nature and ability. That life has died. Our source for life and ability now solely rests in Jesus Christ, our indwelling Lord. To be honest, I can’t tell you exactly how all of this looks in real life and expression. There have been times that I’ve walked more fully in Christ, but those are probably the minority.
All that we are by nature must die. Now having died with Christ, we are then raised to new life. We have a new life source which is Jesus Christ. All is new. If I was a brilliant musician before coming to Christ I would have reason to boast in my ability. But all that was before has been put to death. Even my great talent. Now the source for musical ability is Christ and the goal is to glorify Him.
Suppose I was a great thinker and very studious before coming to Christ (I wasn’t). I now have a new source for knowledge and even a new purpose for knowledge. It’s now the Spirit that gives me understanding, not just my ability to read, focus and memorize. Without light from the Spirit I have no understanding in the things of God and no revelation of Christ.
We must come to a place where our abilities, talents and social status become worthless when compared to the worth of knowing Christ.
The first step, I believe, is receiving a glimpse of Christ and the eternal purpose of God in Christ.
I think that when we put no confidence in the flesh, we cast aside all of our assumptions and presumptions about ourselves, completely. Everything passes through death, burial, and resurrection. What comes out the other side is from Him, through Him, and to Him. Nee points out that it is relatively easy for us to grasp, theologically, the from Him and to Him part, but we have difficulty applying the through Him part. If your natural gift is music, then He may or may not choose to use you in that way to express Christ in you at any given moment in time, and the fact that He was “in it” once is no guarantee that He will choose to work that way again. Ultimately, His presence and glory are the true test of whether something is to be employed or not. Admittedly, these can be difficult to appraise objectively. A humble and meek heart, fully desirous to see Him glorified is a prerequisite.
I couldn’t have said that better, Chris. I agree that the difficult part is the practical application, “through Him.” It’s all a matter of going on in Him and making Him the center and source of…well…everything. That’s why the breaking of our outer man, as Watchman Nee puts it, is so important to our growth in Christ.
Quincy, thanks for another solid post. This afternoon I was listening to a recorded message about Christ as our center, and His living in and through us to replace our natural living (whether good or bad). One of the points was from Phil. 3 – the reason Paul counted everything, including his very identity, loss was that He saw Christ in a surpassing way. How much we count loss, drop off, and forget is proportional to our seeing of who Christ is and what He has done and will do. So we pray, “Lord, cause us to see You in a deeper, broader way.”
Thanks Don. I agree with that completely. As Christ becomes greater in our eyes everything else will undoubtedly shrivel up to nothing compared to Him.