This past Sunday I spoke about perseverance from a Christian perspective. My remarks started with Paul’s great encouragement in Philippians 3:13-14 “Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul says he is going to persevere and move forward. But what is it he is persevering in? Paul says it is in losing! This is a very un-American thing, for we do love our winners, but Paul says he is going to persevere in losing.
Earlier in Philippians 3, Paul said “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” (Philippians 3:8). The best way for us to persevere in growing in the Christian life, says Paul, is for us to go on a losing streak!
I closed my remarks Sunday by asking us to consider those things we have indeed counted as loss for the sake of knowing Christ. This is useful as both a reminder and a marker, helping us see how far we have come. I gave it mention on Sunday, but I think the critical question for us to bring before the Lord is the opposite of that.
What things haven’t I yet counted as loss in order to know Christ better? What things are we still hanging on to, trying to keep apart from him? We all have them, areas of our life where we hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign outside the door to keep God away. In this same passage, Paul himself said “I haven’t obtained this yet, I haven’t been made perfect.” Nevertheless, Paul says he is going to persevere in losing more and more of himself, in order that he might gain Christ and be found in Him (Philippians 3:8-9).
What parts of my life am I hanging on to? Will I bring them to the Lord and relinquish control? This is the constant struggle of the Christian life. Like Paul, may we make it our aim to persevere in losing. Like Paul, may we come to realize more and more “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus”.
See you Sunday!
-Bill
