In our lawsuit-happy culture, American companies must go to great lengths to avoid lawsuits, and they do it by putting some of the strangest warning labels on their products. Every year, the Center for America sponsors the Wacky Warning Labels Contest, looking for what it calls “the most absurd and silly warning labels attached to everyday products.”
One of last year’s (2015) winners had this warning on a one-inch tall water-absorbent grow toy that looks like the Easter Bunny: “This toy is in no way intended to represent living people. Any resemblance is purely coincidental and not intended to harm anyone.”
In 2014, the Wacky Warning Label winner was found on a cellphone battery booster. It said: “Get Rid of Children”.
Previous year’s winners included the following warning labels: “Remove child before folding” – a warning found on a baby stroller; “Danger: Avoid Death” – a warning label on a small tractor; “Harmful if swallowed” – a warning found on a brass fishing lure with a three-pronged hook; A wood router included the following warning label: “This product is not intended for use as a dental drill”; and finally, “May cause drowsiness” – a warning label for Nytol One-a-Night sleeping pills. (www.centerforamerica.org/wwl_11/)
Sometimes, the rules and regulations some of us adopt for our own spiritual growth can sound as ridiculous as these wacky warning labels. As a result, many Christians don’t enjoy being a Christian anymore. In their quest for holiness, they have adopted so many rules, or they have tried to conform to so many performance demands, that they have lost the joy of their relationship with Christ.
Do you want the joy of your relationship with Christ back? Do you want to enjoy being a Christian again? Then I invite you to turn with me to Philippians 3, Philippians 3, where the Bible tells us how to find that joy again.
Philippians 3:1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! [Find your joy in Christ, not in rules and regulations. Find your joy in the Lord, not in the Law.] To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you.
In other words, what I am about to say is going to protect you from losing your joy.
Philippians 3:2 Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. (ESV)
Do you want to enjoy being a Christian again? Then, 1st of all…
BEWARE OF LEGALISTS.
Watch out for those who define Christianity in terms of keeping a list of do’s and don’ts. Guard yourself against those who insist on a performance based Christianity. Stay away from those who would steal your joy and replace it with judgment, because you don’t keep their rules.
The fact is we’ve had to watch out for these kind of people ever since the church began. When Gentiles first started believing in Jesus (Acts 10ff), some Jewish Christians didn’t like it. Oh, they thought it was fine that Gentiles were coming to faith in Christ. But they insisted that those Gentiles also had to keep the Jewish law in order to be accepted in the Church. They had to be circumcised; they had to keep the Sabbath – i.e., worship on Saturday; and they couldn’t eat pork; etc.
The early church called them Judaizers, because they insisted that Gentiles had to become Jews in order to become good Christians. In other words, they were saying that faith in Christ is not enough. You must believe, sure. But you must believe AND do something else.
These Judaizers would follow Paul around and teach his new converts, “You believe in Jesus – that’s nice, but that’s not enough. If you really want to be close to God, you must believe AND be circumcised; you must believe AND keep the Old Testament dietary laws; you must believe AND worship on Saturday; you must believe AND follow all the rules.” So Paul warns these new Philippian Believers, “Watch out for these kind of people.”
And we still need to watch out for these kind of people today. There are people, today, who will tell you that faith in Christ is not enough. “Oh, it’s fine as a start, but you must believe AND be baptized. You must believe AND speak in tongues in order to be really close to God. You must believe AND follow all of our rules.” Watch out for those who say, “You must believe AND do something else,” no matter what that something else is.
Why? Because they will destroy your joy. They will ruin you, spiritually. Paul calls them “dogs,” in verse 2, “evil workers,” and “mutilators of the flesh.” Now, Paul doesn’t have in mind the nice, pet golden retriever, who’s so nice and gentle with children. No. The dogs in Paul’s day were wild, scavengers, that tore up everything they could get a hold of. They were dangerous animals!
By the way, the Jews used to call Gentiles, “Dogs.” But here, Paul calls these Jewish legalists, “Dogs.” He also calls them, “Mutilators of the Flesh,” because of their insistence on circumcision.
Paul doesn’t mince words here. It’s very clear. Legalists are dangerous. They WILL destroy your joy. They WILL ruin your enjoyment of life in Christ.
Think about the college admissions process, which many high school juniors and seniors find extraordinarily stressful at this time of year. Tullian Tchividjian, a pastor in Florida, talks about watching as two best friends, Wayne and Dave, applied for early admission at the same college a few years ago. That December, Wayne was accepted and Dave was deferred.
The next four months, during which Dave waited for the final ruling, looked very different – and very similar – for each of them. They both took basically the same classes and had the same homework load. They spent time with many of the same people socially.
But there were also a couple of key differences. No longer under the watchful eye of the all-important transcript, Wayne decided to branch out in his extracurricular activities. He started a band and got into rock-climbing. He even pioneered a program teaching underprivileged kids in the community how to climb. The program still exists, more than ten years later. Meanwhile, Dave got involved in a bunch of extracurricular [activities] that he had never been involved with before, stuff that he thought might boost his chances at getting into his dream college.
By the end of the semester, Dave was exhausted, and Wayne was full of energy. Although Dave did well and kept up his GPA, Wayne got the best grades of his high school career! Freed from having to play it safe, he wrote his papers about topics he was genuinely interested in, rather than the ones he thought the teacher would appreciate, and it showed on the page.
Tchividjian says, “The fruit of assurance in Wayne's life was not laziness but creativity, charity and fun. Set free from the imperative to perform, his performance shot off the charts. Set free from having to earn his future, he enjoyed his present. Set free from the burden of self-focus, he was inspired to serve others – and without being told he needed to do so!”
On the other hand, Dave carried a burden of expectation all semester, and it wore him out. (Tullian Tchividjian, “Grace and the Summer of George,” Liberate: Tullian Tchividjian blog, 4-19-13; www.PreachingToday.com)
That’s what happens with performance-based living. It wears people out; and in many cases, it so discourages people that they eventually give up, because they know they can never measure up. So beware of the legalists. Watch out for those who insist on performance based acceptance, because they will destroy your joy.
And besides, their rules are unnecessary. We, who know Christ, are already accepted by God. We don’t need to do anything else to earn His acceptance.
Philippians 3:3-4a 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. (ESV)
Paul says, we who trust Christ and not ourselves, we who worship by the Spirit of God, we are the true circumcision – not in the flesh, but in the heart. In other words, we, believers in Christ, are the true Jews. We are already accepted in God’s covenant community. Therefore, we don’t need to do anything else.
We don’t need to get on the treadmill of religious activity and somebody’s performance demands. Now, treadmills are fun if you want to get a little exercise, but for many people, religion feels like running on a treadmill: they're working hard but getting nowhere. And that's a good image for the way many people approach the Christian life, especially when you consider the history behind the treadmill.
In Victorian England, treadmills were not found in air-conditioned health clubs. They were found in prisons. Treadmills, or treadwheels, as they were called, were used as a form of punishment. Now, some treadwheels were productive, grinding wheat or transporting water, but others were purely punitive in nature, designed to humiliate the prisoner. That’s because the prisoner was forced to spend most of his day walking up the inclined plane of the treadmill, knowing that all his hard labor was useless. He couldn’t even feel productive at the end of the day. The only thing he could do was wait for the day when he would have “paid his debt” to society and be set free. (Elyse Fitzpatrick, Because He Loves Me, Crossway, 2010, pp. 87-91; www.PreachihngToday.com)
Sad to say, a lot of Christians are like that prisoner on the treadmill. They work hard at trying to be a better Christian without much to show for it. They’re humiliated, feeling like all their hard labor is useless, still struggling with the same sins year after year after year.
Well, I’ve got good news for them and for all of us who struggle: Christ has already paid our debt and set us free. We are no longer sentenced to be chained to the treadmill of useless religious activity. Now, because of Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection, God has accepted us fully, and we are free to enjoy our relationship with Him.
So get off the treadmill! Stop trying to keep all of the rules in your own strength. Stop trying to measure up to someone’s performance standards. Beware of the legalist, and simply…
BELIEVE IN CHRIST.
Depend on the One who died for you and rose again. Put your confidence in the Lord, and in Him alone.
Don’t believe in yourself. Don’t put your confidence in yourself. Paul didn’t.
Philippians 3:4b-6 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. (ESV)
Paul could beat the Judaizers at their own game, because many of them were Gentile converts to Judaism; thus, they were circumcised as adults. Not Paul. He was circumcised when he was 8 days old. He was a true descendant of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin (the same as Israel’s 1st king), no less. Both of his parents were Jews – “a Hebrew of Hebrews.” And he was a member of the strictest sect of Judaism – a Pharisee. No one could match his zeal, and he kept the law better than all of them. Paul could outdo the Judaizers on every count.
Philippians 3:7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. (ESV)
You see, none of his achievements could get him one inch closer to Christ, so he considered them all liabilities. He stopped putting his confidence in them. He stopped counting on them to get him closer to God, and so must we.
We cannot count on our own achievements. We cannot depend on ourselves. We cannot rely on our own efforts, no matter how noble they are, to get us one inch closer to true righteousness and true intimacy with God. Eugene Peterson put it this way: “We can't save ourselves by pulling on our bootstraps, even when the bootstraps are made of the finest religious leather” (Leadership, Vol. 4, No.3). So don’t believe in yourself
Instead, believe in Christ and find true righteousness. Depend on Jesus just like Paul did. Rely on the Lord and be truly right with God.
Philippians 3:8-9 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 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… (ESV)
Faith in Christ is the key! When we depend on Christ, we find true righteousness, not a contrived righteousness, based on conformity to some external standard, but a real, genuine righteousness, which comes from God Himself.
Denise Banderman, of Hannibal, Missouri, some time ago (spring 2002), was taking a Youth Ministry Class at Hannibal-LaGrange College there. At the end of the semester, she left work early so she could have some uninterrupted study time before the final exam. When she got to class, everybody was doing their last-minute studying.
The professor, Dr. Tom Hufty, came in and said he would review with them before the test. Most of his review came right from the study guide, but there were some things he was reviewing that Denise had never heard. When questioned about it, he said, “They’re in the book and you’re responsible for everything in the book.” The students couldn't argue with that.
Finally it was time to take the test. Dr. Hufty instructed the students, “Leave [the tests] face down on the desk until everyone has one, and I'll tell you when to start.”
When they turned their tests over, Denise was astonished to find every answer filled in. Her name was even written on the exam in red ink. The bottom of the last page said: “This is the end of the exam. All the answers on your test are correct. You will receive an A on the final exam. The reason you passed the test is because the creator of the test took it for you. All the work you did in preparation for this test did not help you get the A. You have just experienced…grace.”
So it is when we depend on Christ. We could never hope to pass life’s final exam, no matter how hard we tried. But Christ has already taken the exam for us, and He got all of the answers right. He lived a perfect life on our behalf. He died on the cross on our behalf, to pay the penalty for our sins, and He rose again on our behalf. Now He offers His own righteousness or, if you will, all the right answers, to anyone who believes in Him.
So stop counting on yourself. Stop relying on your own achievements, and start relying on Christ, and on Him alone. Believe in Christ and find true righteousness.
But not only that, believe in Christ and find true intimacy with Him, as well. Life your life in dependence upon the Lord, and find a closeness with the Living God, which is worth more than any earthly achievement.
In verse 8, Paul said, “I count everything… as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ” AND…
Philippians 3:10-11 …that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (ESV)
Paul stopped counting on his own achievements. He considered them all trash, and he put his trust in Christ, for one reason, and one reason only, so he could know this Christ, his Messiah, intimately -- not just know ABOUT Him, but KNOW Him intimately, as a close friend. That meant that he could experience, in his everyday life, the power of Christ’s resurrection, even though it also meant sharing in his sufferings.
But it was all worth it to Paul. Knowing Christ was worth the pain. Being close to Christ was worth the loss of everything else. Because, when you have Christ, you don’t need anything else.
That’s Joni Eareckson Tada’s testimony after living as a quadriplegic for nearly 50 years. Just a few years ago (2013), in an interview with World magazine, Joni reflected on the diving accident that changed her life. As a 14-year-old, Joni had embraced Jesus as her savior, but in her words she had “confused the abundant Christian life with the great American dream.” Joni said:
“I was a Christian and would lose weight, get good grades, get voted captain of the hockey team, go to college, marry a wonderful man who made $250,000 a year, and we'd have 2.5 children. It was me focused: What can God do for me? I almost thought that I had done God a great big favor by accepting Jesus …. [And my boyfriend and I] were doing some things together that we wrong.
“In April 1967, I came home from a sordid Friday night date … and cried, ‘Oh God… I'm staining your reputation by saying I'm a Christian, yet doing one thing Friday night and another Sunday morning. I'm a hypocrite… I want you to change my life… Please do something in my life that will jerk it right side up because I'm making a mess of the Christian faith in my life and I don't want that. I want to glorify you.’ Then I had the diving accident about three months later.
Immediately after the accident, Joni told God, “You'll never be trusted with another of my prayers.” But after struggling with anguish and anger Joni said, “I prayed one short prayer that changed my life: ‘Oh God, if I can't die, show me how to live.’ She said, “That was probably the most powerful prayer I had ever prayed.” (Marvin Olasky, “Loving Life,” World, 1-12-13; www.PreachingToday.com)
Joni lost everything – the use of her arms and legs; but even more significant than that, she lost all of her own hypocritical self-righteousness. As a result, she gained life-changing intimacy with Christ, who did not heal her from her paralysis. Instead, He simply gave her Himself and used her in ways far beyond anything she could have ever thought possible.
My dear friends, the same thing can happen to you. Just stop trying so hard to live up to someone’s performance standards, and simply trust Christ with your life. Beware of the legalists, and simply believe in Jesus. You might pray the Prayer Joni did: “Oh God, if I can’t die, show me how to live.”
Henri Nouwen put it this way: “Sometimes I think of life as a big wagon wheel with many spokes. In the middle is the hub. Often in [life], it looks like we are running around the rim trying to [please] everybody. But God says, “Start in the hub; live in the hub. Then you will be connected with all the spokes, and you won't have to run so fast.” (Henri J. Nouwen in "Moving from Solitude to Community to Ministry", Leadership, Spring 1995).
The good news is: You don’t need to meet every body’s performance demands. All you have to do is draw close to Jesus at the hub. All you have to do is depend on Him.
