Although I myself might have confidence even
in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh,
I far more: [5] circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of
the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;
[6] as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness
which is in the Law, found blameless. Philip. 3:4-6 (NASB-U)
These
words of Paul are what in his time would be a description of a Godly
man. These were activities of faith that to his listeners put him far
above the average religious man.
Let's translate this into our
culture. I often hear statements such as, "that guy is a really good
Christian." Or, "I am not really a very good Christian." What do people
mean when they say this? What is meant by "good Christian"? They may not
be consciously aware of it but I believe they are really referring to
what I call the "big five" of Christianity.
They are Prayer, Bible
study, Church attendance, Giving and Witnessing. We believe that the
person who does these things well is a "good Christian." You are a
better or lesser Christian depending on how you measure up to this check
list. Usually when we feel like we aren't "right" with God it is
because we do not score well on the "big five" list. But listen to what
Paul goes on to say in this letter to the Philippians.
But
whatever things (he just listed those "things" as religious activities)
were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of
Christ. [8] More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the
surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have
suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I
may gain Christ, [9] and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness
of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,
Philip. 3:7-9 (NASB-U)
Paul seems to be saying that
there is a difference between religious activities, or in our case,
Christian activities and really knowing Jesus.
He does not mean just knowing about God but a deep intimate
relationship. The "big five" will naturally come out of knowing God but
they do not necessarily lead us to that knowledge. They are tools that
only have value in as much as they are used for the right purpose.
Suppose
I had a goal in life to build the greatest house ever built. To achieve
that goal I go to school and study every aspect of building from design
to construction. Then I go and work as an apprentice to a master
builder and learn the "tricks of the trade" that you can't learn in
school. Then I go and buy the best tools for building that money can
buy. There I stand decked out with all the fancy tools and all the
knowledge and skills to use them. But what good is any of that if I
never build the house. There is no glory and value in the tools or
knowledge in and of themselves. You see, I know many people who do the
"big five" really well but do not really know God. But I don't know anyone who truly knows God that does not do the "big five."
Why
do so many miss this value that the most important thing in life is to
truly know God in an intimate way? Why is it easier to get caught up in
activity than to "Cease striving and know that I am God?" (Psalms 46:10) Part of the answer lies in understanding how Satan operates in our lives.
We
know that Satan is responsible for a lot of pain in the world but I do
not think we understand why. In reality, Satan doesn't really care about
you, one way or the other. He doesn't care if you go to church or live a
good or bad life. You mean nothing to him. Satan is consumed by his
hatred of God and his belief that he should rightfully be God. His
constant desire is not to hurt you but to hurt God. Since God's greatest
desire is to have intimate fellowship with you then the best way Satan
can hurt God is to prevent that from happening. How does he do that?
Every
time you move toward intimacy with God Satan will bring pain into your
life. The natural human response to pain is to pull away. In Luke
14:25-35 Jesus tells his followers that they need to count the cost of
following Him. He gives an illustration of a King who goes to war with
ten thousand men against an army of twenty thousand. In the middle of
the battle he has to send a delegation to ask the terms of peace. Many
of you unknowingly have struck a deal with Satan for peace. Here are his
terms. "I don't care if you go to church or in fact do any of the "big
five" as long as you stay away from intimacy with God. If you stay clear
of God then I won't bother you." And that is where many live, busy with
Christian activity but never really knowing God intimately.
Let's
go back to Paul again. He felt so strongly about the difference between
the Christian activity and in fact every good thing in his life that he
said,
More than that, I count all things to be loss
in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish
so that I may gain Christ, (Philippians 3:8 NASB)
The
word translated here as rubbish is actually the slang word for
excrement or manure. That is how strongly he felt about it. What seemed
to cost him everything actually gained him the best thing. But he also
understood that this choice would involve pain.
That I
may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of
His sufferings, being conformed to His death; Philip. 3:10 (NASB-U)
Everyone
would love to know the "power of His resurrection" the power that
raised Jesus from the dead, but are we willing to pay the price of the "fellowship of His sufferings?"
My friend, you will not know one without the other. But I promise you
that when you experience this kind of relationship with the creator of
the universe everything else in your life will pale in comparison. This
is God's design for your life. This is what will please Him.
I believe that God created and designed the universe to work in a certain way. When you live life according to that design it works, if you do not then life doesn't work. Even if you do not believe in God this design is observable and verifiable. Learning that design is the best way to experience contentment in life.
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