What Are You Pursuing? Series

C.S. Lewis wrote this in Mere Christianity: “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world, were those who thought the most of the next one. It has only been since Christians have largely ceased to think of the next world that they have become so ineffective in this one.” I think that is a very fitting quote, as we come into week 8 of our study of Philippians. Last week we started this discourse of Paul in chapter 3, this warning to the church to not fall for the lies that were being told by the Judaizers, that they needed to follow all these rules, and be circumcised, to be saved by Jesus. And Paul warned them, do not fall for that garbage, because knowing Jesus is worth so much more than all those things that we used to put our trust in, that we used to believe would save us. Jesus is more than our doubts, more than our efforts to be holy, and more than everything else that life has to offer. So this week, I want to ask you all, what are you pursuing? What are you working towards in life? What controls your time, your money, your ambitions? What examples are you modelling your life after?

This week is where everything we have studied in Philippians so far becomes personal. What is YOUR goal in life? Are you focusing on the things of this world to make you happy? Are you focused on getting to a certain goal in life? Maybe paying off some big debt, or getting that promotion, a raise or a bonus? Or maybe it’s getting to the finish line, getting to retirement, so you can have all that time to do all the things that YOU have wanted to do for all these years? Last week we saw what Paul was pursuing in life: being made fully like Jesus, and all the hope of perfection and resurrection that came with that. That was his ultimate goal in life, and everything that he did was focused around that goal, of running his race towards being like Jesus. Because Paul knew that the things of this life, they don’t matter. The temporary pleasure that they give you PALES in comparison to what Jesus is offering you. You may remember last week that he called the things of this world feces, or crap, in comparison to knowing Jesus. Paul knew that what was to come in the next world was so much better than anything that we could experience here on earth. He knew that the best pleasures of this life, were only the faintest shadow of what is to come. He knew that, and he knew that the world to come is the one that he was TRULY a citizen of, NOT this world, so he pursued that goal with his life. His example is one for us to follow, because that reality is just as true for us as it was for Paul in the first century. Every Christian should live in pursuit of Christlikeness, because we are citizens of heaven.

Our passage today is Philippians 3, verses 15-21, and I am reading from the New International Version: “All of us, then, 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. Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

Alright, let’s go through this verse by verse, starting at the beginning: All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things.” Of course, this view that they should take is what we studied last week. But what is clear from this sentence, is that not everyone agreed with Paul’s views on the race to perfection, not everyone agreed with what he had said about the Judaizers. The Greek verb phronomen in this sentence indicates that it was actually more than just a minor intellectual difference between two positions, it was a completely different outlook on the situation at hand that affected the conduct of some of those that Paul was writing too. And that Greek word that he uses for maturity, telios, is very specifically referring to a SPIRITUAL maturity. So what Paul is really saying is, if you have been brought to a spiritual maturity in Jesus, you should share this view with me. Now for the REST of the audience, those who disagree with him, he says the following: “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.” So if you disagree with him on this, it will be made clear to you in time through his Spirit, and we call this conviction, the Holy Spirit CONVICTS you when you are wrong. BUT in the MEANTIME, UNTIL it is made clear to you, live up to what you have already attained. And that phrase “Let us live up to” in the Greek carries the sense of a COLLECTIVE discipline, of everyone walking in the same row or by the same measure like soldiers. So he says: Take the view I have just given, your works cannot save you. Everything that you USED to pursue in life, everything you USED to put your faith in, it is all meaningless compared to knowing Jesus. If you are spiritually mature enough, you will agree with me on this. And if not, that is ok, because Jesus will make it clear to you as you walk with Him and mature IN Him. But UNTIL THAT TIME, we all move forward together, as one body. TOGETHER we live up to the salvation we have received in him, even when we do not agree.