Wilderness Wanderings

Day 2

Reflect 1. What were a couple of things that caught your attention since you prayed yesterday? 2. How has God or how might God deepen your desire for our congregation to be a picture to the world of God's shalom?

Imagine… Being a Foretaste

"[Jesus] went to Nazareth… and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue… He stood up to read…: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:16–19)

Jesus comes to his hometown and speaks the word of Isaiah but not before others have spoken in the book of Luke.

There have already been three strong voices in Luke's gospel that have sounded a particular chord. Mary declares in her Magnificat that God will bring down the mighty from their thrones and lift up the humble, that he would send the rich away empty but fill the hungry with good things. John the Baptist's dad, Zechariah, declares that God will redeem his people and save them from the hands of their enemies and all who hate them. At the birth of Jesus, the angelic army's words declare, "Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace among men on whom his favor rests." This heavenly host looking at the world, its brokenness, and its desperate state, declare God is coming into the world to war against all that has gone wrong.

Then Jesus comes to his hometown. He speaks a very popular, hopeful passage. Speaks the passage--sort of. Jesus cuts Isaiah 61 short, ignoring a part about God's vengeance. Then he adds words from Isaiah 58 about releasing the oppressed. Isaiah 58 is the great passage that speaks of the kind of fast God wants, where the hungry are fed, the captives are released, and the chains of injustice are broken.

Jesus declares what the kingdom will be like. In the declaration, he calls his followers to join him in giving the world a taste of God's shalom wherever they are.

Prayer Ideas. Dear God…- open our ears to hear the Spirit - let us hear your pleasure in what we do - let us hear your imagination for giving a foretaste of shalom to the world - give us a holy imagination

Daily Reflections (to take with you as you keep your eyes, heart, and spirit open during the day) 1. How did you reflect on being a foretaste during the day? 2. Where did you experience a foretaste of God's shalom today? 3. Were there moments when God gave you insight into how our congregation could be a foretaste?

Vibrant Prayer Guide - Day 1

Leading up to the Weekend of Discernment:Friday June 2, 7-9:30pm & Saturday June 3, 8:30-Noon

Intro # 1The Basics: Pray|Reflect|Connect

This prayer guide from Vibrant Congregations follows a threefold pattern:

Pray: On day one, there is a short meditation with prayer ideas. Along with this are thoughts to carry with you through the day keeping you aware of ways God may be speaking to you.

Reflect: Each following day there is an opportunity to write down insights from the prior day followed with the meditation and ways to stay aware of God's presence during the day.

Connect: The last discernment is done by the entire group at our gathering. The desire is to hear as a community what the Spirit is saying to our congregation.

Intro # 2A Very Important First Step

We often have in mind what we think is best for the congregation. Our perspective on our congregation can keep us from seeing:

• other perspectives • other possibilities • a bigger vision • different ways of doing things

The goal in this season of prayer is to be as open as possible to Word and Spirit so we practice something called "holy indifference." We seek to be indifferent to anything but God's heart and will as we hear it in Word and prayer. One way to do this is to write down those things about which you are already sure. Things like:

• what's important for our congregation • the direction we need to go • the best way to our future • what needs to happen in a particular program• who needs to do the work

Come back to these words you've written each day you pray. Promise God each time anew that you will listen to his voice and put aside your own perspective during this time of prayerful discernment.

Day 1 Text & Meditation: Being a Picture

"His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Ephesians 3:10–11)

Paul's words in Ephesians continue to catch us off guard. He says something so unexpected and stunning that we cannot imagine it to be true. Paul tells the church that when God wants to show the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms what he is doing in the world, they should look at the church. The church is the picture of his work, vision, and direction for the world.

In Ephesians, God's picture shows all things united in Christ (Ephesians 1.9-10). Paul illustrates this picture by the life of God's new people, where two people come together to form a new community. (See Ephesians 2).

God's call to his church is always to display his work to the world in the way they do life together. This work is displayed in unity of purpose, living the "one another" passages of the New Testament, working through differences, creating just systems and structures (see Acts 6), and more.

Imagine being God's sacred family that brings him glory by being a picture to the world of how a community lives the ways of God's shalom.

What is shalom? Shalom is a rich biblical word woven into the scriptures. In our Bibles, it is often translated as "peace." However, it is so much more than how western people think of peace. Shalom is the Father's restoration of all things through Christ to the glory of God and for the good of the world. Shalom is the way things are supposed to be. And God's Shalom therefore is the picture of what the church is called more and more to live.

Prayer Ideas. Dear God…- open our ears to hear the Spirit… - let us hear your pleasure in what we do… - let us hear your imagination for our being a picture before the world… - give us a holy imagination…

Holy Indifference What is your normal response to the idea of shalom? How can you suspend that response to build a holy imagination?

Daily Reflections (to take with you as you keep your eyes, heart, and spirit open during the day) 1. How did you reflect on being a picture of God's sacred family during the day? 2. Where did you experience being supported by the congregation in your day? 3. Were there moments when God gave you insight into how your congregation could pursue being a picture of living God's way before the world?

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life (Philippians 4:1-3).

Once again, the division between chapters is not a solid wall. Paul is finishing his point that our lives must be guided by the truth that our 'citizenship is in heaven.' Likewise, it ought to guide Euodia and Syntyche in whatever disagreement they are having.

But before we get to them, Paul is again expressing himself as someone deeply emersed in the life of the church, not as an ivory tower theologian. These Christians are his joy and his crown even now. They are the treasures he is laying up in heaven. He is confident that Christ will complete the good work he began in them (1:6); thus, they will adorn Paul's brow at the final day, just as the crown of leaves adorned the brow of a victorious athlete in his day.

Paul is not gloating. He does not want people looking at him, admiring him, hero-worshipping him. Rather, they will be proof that his labour was not in vain; their presence before the throne will authenticate his calling as an apostle, which some still doubted. Elsewhere, Paul has made the case that he is an apostle, but here he will not press his point; judgement day will make all this clear.

But only if they stand firm by avoiding the excesses of the enemies of the cross of Christ. Again, we pause to consider the motives behind our own desires. Do we live merely for ourselves? Or are we guided by the cross? We all live with mixed motives. It is the constant task of the Christian to allow the Holy Spirit to test and probe us. The cross is the way of humility. Will we walk it?

Now, about these two women. The argument between them may be penetrating the entire church. For the sake of the communion, they need to end their strife. The phrase "be of the same mind' echoes the one Paul used in his exhortation to the whole church to be "like-minded" (2:2). The clear verbal echo indicates that Euodia and Syntyche need to put the interests of each other first.

In his rebuke, Paul is deliberately even-handed, He does not take sides but exhorts each one with equal firmness and commends them both for being co-labourers with him for the gospel. They should be in Spirit-produced fellowship with one another, and this relationship should be characterized by "tenderness and compassion," a mutual love, and a unity of purpose. It should, in addition, lead them to put the interests of the other ahead of their own interests.

Paul is under no illusions, however, that they will end their dispute with one another on some purely human grounds. Thus, he adds to his admonition the qualification that their agreement should be "in the Lord." Further, sometimes, we need help to see the truth of things. And so, he asks his 'true companion' to help these people resolve their issues.

Paul's admonition is not abstract, a general command for the Christians to work out on their own. Here he shows that the deep concept of Christian unity must be worked out on the ground, one quarrel at a time. So, Paul singles out Euodia and Syntyche, identifies them as two people who have contributed to the disunity within the church, and urges them to "agree in the Lord." In 4:2, Paul pours all the theological richness of 2:6-11 into a single dispute between two people. For him there can be no dichotomy between reflection on the incarnation and the behavior that the incarnation requires of us.

Similarly, what we believe determines what we practice. If we believe that God is the "Creator of heaven and earth," we cannot exploit his creation in ways that dishonor him. If we believe in "the forgiveness of sins" through the death of Jesus Christ, then we cannot refuse to forgive the sins of others. If we believe in "the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting," then we cannot grieve over death as if we had no hope. But especially considering this passage, if we believe in "the holy catholic church" and in the "communion of saints," then when relationships within the church are broken, we must work for their reconciliation. It should be unthinkable to confess our faith in the words of the Apostles' Creed but to refuse to associate with our brothers and sisters across the church aisle.

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 (Philippians 3:18-21).

Sometimes, theologians are portrayed as people living in ivory towers, far removed from the realities and struggles of ordinary life. At times, our dear apostle Paul is depicted in this way as well. But that is not an adequate portrayal rooted in his writings. In his letters, he often writes with the heart of a parent, taking delight in the young believers while also being deeply concerned for their wellbeing.

Here, he writes with tears. Was some of the ink blotched because those tears had fallen while he wrote? His heart is grieved for all those who insist on opposing the cross of Christ; for those who, in the end, will be separated from God forever.

From our historical distance, we cannot be sure who he had in mind, but several things are worth our attention. First, he does not name them 'my enemies'. Paul consistently refuses to see people as enemies. We do well, in our current cultural setting, both in the church and beyond, to diligently follow his example. People are not the enemy. No matter how deep our disagreements, our struggle is against powers and principalities, not people.

We also do well to pay attention to his description of these 'enemies of the cross'. 'Their god is their stomach'. Stomach stands in for all the desires of the body, the lusts of the flesh. The only thing these people care about is personal satisfaction. Their appetites dictate their lives. Such minds are focussed solely on this earth and this life. They have no vision for life except to please the self in the moment. His warning is not against specific sins, but against the underlying sin of pandering to self.

The thing is, I've never met a Christian who does not, at least on occasion, fall to a temptation of the 'stomach', pandering to self. Paul is reminding the young Christians that they themselves must remain vigilant. And we do well to heed his warning; to recognize that his tears fall for us as well. We must test our desires. In themselves, they are not necessarily bad. Desires for food, for friendship, for a healthy marriage or for rest are normally good. However, we can overindulge in food. Sometimes we can use friends to climb the ladder. Sometimes our desire for rest is just laziness.

Thus, Paul reminds us that our citizenship is in heaven. Our treasures, our desires, our goals for life are determined not by the desires of our lowly bodies, but by the values of God himself. Philippi was a Roman colony. This meant that it was ruled by Roman law rather than native custom and that its citizens were Roman citizens. Likewise, Christians live in this world, in various human cultures, each with their own value system, but our citizenship is in heaven. We derive our values from the cross.

When the truths about the cross and the return of Christ are grasped, a certain way of life naturally follows. What we believe changes our behaviour. We imitate Christ while longing for full redemption. When he returns, our Saviour will transform us so that our lowly bodies, often difficult to control, will then be subject to Christ giving glory to God.

Ours are lowly bodies because they are subject to sin. The body itself, as God's creation, is good; not inherently evil. Because of sin, we are frail and weak, easily seduced to engage in selfish activity. While our bodies remain 'lowly', we have not arrived at our goal. But one day, our lowly bodies will give way to the new spiritual body. Eagerly we await Christ's appearance and full conformity to his resurrection body, forever in union with our God. We live in this world pressing on towards that day.

At that final day he will, from his exalted position where all things are subject to him, draw our lowly bodies up into his glorious existence. He identified with our humility so that we might in turn be identified with his resurrected body. Maranatha, come Lord Jesus.

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. (Philippians 3:15-17)

Do these verses sound a bit arrogant to you? It's almost as if Paul is saying some more Christian-y version of: "my way or the highway," or maybe "grow up or get out."

It might sound that way: but there's more going on here than meets the eye. In the original language behind these verses, it's clear that Paul is making a reference back the beginning of chapter 2 where he says: "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus." The same Greek word behind "mindset" is behind the phrase "such a view of things" and the word "think."

In other words, Paul is saying: "All of us who are mature should take on the same mindset as that of Christ Jesus, even as you have witnessed me doing while I was with you and in the story I just told about how I consider everything a loss for the gain of knowing Christ and living out his mindset." In other words: the mindset of Christ IS what it means to be mature in Christ.

To that end, Paul has attempted to give his own life and experience as a visible witness and pattern of this mindset of Christ that humbly submits to God and gives up everything as loss. As Christ does so for the sake of the Father, so Paul does it for the sake of Christ. And now he tells the Philippians: imitate me as I imitate Christ. Or, imitate someone else whose life imitates mine or that of Christ.

The point in any case is that knowing the truth of Christ must necessarily mature into living the life of Christ—that life of humble submission. If believing the right truths about Christ is as far as you ever get, then you have not yet grown up. This is an immature Christian life. Regardless, Paul does remain "confident… that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6). Indeed, as he says: wherever your mindset differs from that of Christ Jesus, Paul trusts that God will make it clear to you.

Paul also encourages the church not to go backwards. "Let us live up to what we have already attained," he says. The goal is always to be straining forwards, looking ahead, keeping one's eyes fixed on Christ—or at least on those ahead of you who are following Christ—so that all of us might more and more run the race of growing up into Christ until we become mature.

So, a question that came up before comes up again here: who are you following into this mindset and way of Christ—this way of the cross: of humility, submission, and loss? Who is following you? And, what is God clarifying to you in terms of the way you walk in light of these words of Philippians about the mindset of Christ? May these questions help you attend to the ways you are running the race of growing up to maturity in Christ.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14).

Goals! We love talking about and setting goals. We have personal goals; family goals; church goals; corporate goals. No politician gets elected without setting forth their goals. A plethora of books have been written on how to reach individual and communal goals.

And so, we find ourselves in familiar territory with our text. Paul is telling us about his goal. Of course, this may be off putting for some of us who have heard too much about goals. Gaol talk causes us to roll our eyes and find something else to do. If that's you, I think you would do well to ponder Paul's goal.

As you may recall, Paul's goal is simply this: to know Christ. He expands this a little by adding, "to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead" (10,11). It's worth noting that in our text Paul adds that God has called him heavenward.

The term "call" in Paul's letters is rich with significance. God calls people from many ethnic and social background into fellowship with Jesus Christ and into his kingdom. It is his grace that gathers us. This will not be fully realized in the present life. Thus, the heavenly call toward which Paul stretches with all his might is God's call to be part of the diverse people who will stand purified before him on the final day.

How many of us have joined Paul in setting this goal for ourselves? He does not mention all 'his converts'; nor the churches he has planted. We get distracted by such things. Joining Christ in his suffering will probably include giving up some of the goals we have set for ourselves because they do not align with the big goal.

Paul is not there yet. He has not yet arrived. But he is pressing on. He uses sports metaphors to illustrate the effort he puts into the goal. In watching professional basketball games, it occurred to me that often the winning team is the best conditioned team. Endurance is as important as skill in the game.

He refuses to allow the past to hinder his progress. He is not specific about what things he means: it could be is strident persecution of the church, or the mistakes (sins) he made as a less mature Christian or a lack of knowledge of Jesus. Whichever he might mean, it does not hold him back. Forward, always forward, straining, yearning for the goal; like a child eager for birthday presents.

But what keeps Paul reaching? How does he keep focussed on the goal? Why is he not distracted by mistakes and setbacks? Why does he not consider all his successes important?

One reason: Jesus took hold of him for this one singular purpose. Yes, he was called to be an apostle. Yes, he was called to preach to the gentiles. Yes, he was called to nurture the young church. All these things are true. But all are secondary to the call to know Christ Jesus, to being like him in his life, death, and resurrection. This is the main thing. And it stays the main thing because Jesus is 'seeing it to completion'. This is what keeps Paul going. Christ will see it accomplished.

There are many things that discourage us in the Christian life. Our own sinfulness and backsliding, chief among them. When you get discouraged, when you think no progress is being made, when you fail one more time, don't spend days moaning and groaning and beating yourself up. Look to Christ. He has called you. He is at work in you. He will see you perfected. Count on Him. In the end, we will discover that he has done all the work. Strangely, that does not make us passive but rather energizes us to walk in step with His Spirit.

An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The text is Galatians 2:11-3:14 from the New International Version of the Bible. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!

To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN QUESTIONS

1. If Jesus saves us, what do we have to do?

2. How are we saved? What's the fine print? Is there anything else to how this whole thing works?

3. Why does Paul oppose Peter to his face? Why does Paul say the truth of the Gospel is at issue?

4. Are there places in your life where you've not practiced what you've preached? What are some examples?

5. We don't have to do better—we get to! How might you gratefully respond to the invitation of Christ and the Spirit within you to walk this journey of sanctification—that is, of having Christ formed in you?

But whatever were gains to me… I consider them garbage, 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 is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:7a, 9-11)

There are many little tangents one could take out of these beautifully dense verses. We'll stick with just one. The same one I've been harping on the whole way through: our union as Christians with the death and resurrection of Jesus.

But here Paul throws an odd twist into it. It does not show up in the usual order of death, then resurrection. Instead, Paul begins with resurrection—then talks about suffering and death before returning to resurrection again.

I see a circle here. Every day we begin in the resurrection life of Jesus. A new day: a gift of life to be thankful for. Not simply because we woke up on the right side of the ground—but because we have life in Jesus! We wake up into a sure hope that gives purpose and direction to our giving and our grieving, our working and our washing, our studying and our suffering. What we wake up into is a life in Christ, a Christian life—a new life filled with new mercies every morning.

As we move through each new day—we find that this Christian life also calls us to take up our cross and follow Jesus in his humble, self-giving, submissive way. On this side of eternity, resurrection life is not yet ours in fullness. We still must die to ourselves and to our sins and all these other things that fall away in the all-surpassing glory of knowing Jesus. We have to reckon with and die to our rage at the bad driver in front of us, we have to loosen our grip on our status, accomplishments, and wealth that we have or desire to have, we have to confront and suffer our way through a still sin-broken world where nothing is as it ought to be. But, as we do: suffering with Jesus and letting our ambitions and sins die in his death, the Spirit forms the new, resurrection life of Christ ever more fully within us too.

Sometimes this happens slowly over years and decades. And sometimes we can see the full course of this rhythm of life-suffering-death-life all in one day or moment.

However that is: this is the picture of life lived like a slinky. Round and round it goes down through the years—an endless spiral of rising and dying and rising again until Christ is formed in us. This is how we come to know Christ and the power of his resurrection at work in us and come to believe more fully that yes: this Christ who is bringing us to life in the little, daily things, can also be trusted to keep his promise to raise us to life at the end of all things.

So while there is much suffering still to be endured and many things in our lives that we still must die to, it is worth remembering as Paul does here that the first and final word of the journey with Jesus is life.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ… (Philippians 3:7-8).

The first half of Philippians 3 is difficult to break up. There is a single thread that runs through it. Righteousness is one of the words Paul chooses to tie things together, even though joy and confidence are part of the glue. Since righteous surrounds our verses, let's stay with it.

As Pastor Anthony reflected on yesterday, here, righteousness is a tally of all the things that gave Paul confidence in the flesh before God. Often, when we Christians use the word flesh, it has a negative connotation. We think about sinful, particularly addictive bodily behaviours. Sometimes Paul does use it that way, but here, it is used to refer to religious activity as practiced by Old Testament Israel in fulfilling the dictates of the law. Flesh describes a person who has reached the very pinnacle of moral and religious development.

These acts of rightness gave access to God. This is the essence of the book of Leviticus: the things that Israel was to do so that God could dwell with her. How could a holy God live among his unholy people? The rituals at the tabernacle and the dictates of the law were the means. In a ledger, Paul has added up everything that gave him access to God. According to the Jews, his list was impressive. When he met Christ on the road to Damascus, he discovered that all these things added up to less than a big fat ZERO.

All these things gave him no access to God, no confidence to come into God's presence, no joy of divine salvation. "But it does not matter," writes Paul, "because now I know Christ!" Everything that was on his ledger as an Israelite, he now considers garbage. He considers them a loss. The only thing on his ledger as a Christian is Christ Jesus. That is all he needs. Paul came to the end of all his costly striving after acceptance before God through simply believing in Christ.

He no longer has a need to measure up, to make something of himself. Christ has given him all he needs. He has given everything up to gain Christ. This is the deeply personal nature of the Christian faith. We often reduce it to our conversion experience. "Have you accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour?" we ask each other. A fine question.

Yet, Paul calls us to go deeper. The personal dynamic of the Christian faith is not just in the conversion experience, but in the daily letting go of our own righteousness so that we can know Christ. On the way to Damascus, he met Christ. But now he speaks of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Glorying in Christ Jesus is not a static thing. Joy in the Lord keeps company with progress in the Lord.

In the years since Damascus, he has progressed in knowledge, not simply facts, but the more intimate knowledge of 'sharing life together', on leaning ever more fully on Christ. He glories even more in Christ Jesus because he knows him more. And because he knows him more, Paul has become more consecrated to him.

This is what Paul has discovered. This is why this section is as much about confidence and joy as it is about righteousness. Our own righteousness is always weak and feeble; it can never give us confidence to boldly come into God's presence. Christ takes the place of everything demanded of Israel in the book of Leviticus. The tabernacle has vanished, and Christ stands among his people and beckons us into the presence of God. With joy and confidence we may come, now and forever.

How does a Christian follow Paul in consecration? Progressively, through deeper and deeper knowledge of Christ, for the more we know him the more we see his glory and the more we gladly give all to and for him.

What gives you confidence before God? What are you counting on to give you good standing with him? What is the source of your joy? These are not easy questions to answer. They should be questions we continually ask ourselves.

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If someone else thinks they have reasons to put 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; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. (Philippians 3:3-7)

No confidence in the flesh, Paul says. As Pastor Michael talked about yesterday, Paul speaks here pretty firmly against any sort of "Jesus-and" sort of faith. Like a faith that says salvation comes by Jesus, and circumcision. Or Jesus, and following the law. Or Jesus, and good worship. Or Jesus, and good kid's programs. Or Jesus, and good ethics. Certainly some of these things have their place in the life of the church and the life of the Christian—but they have no place in securing our salvation.

In frightening moments of culture and technological shift, we tend to reach for something more than Jesus—something tangible we can hold on to to know we're safe and secure. We build up walls of policy and doctrine, or of research and knowledge, or of wealth and possessions, or of whatever else. Something tangible that we can control so that we can keep the sky from falling down on us. This has been going on since the beginning of the church—like it does here in Philippians. There's nothing new under the sun.

But, the Christian faith is not a "Jesus-and" sort of faith. It's just Jesus that saves us. Him alone. We put no confidence in the flesh. No confidence in any of the things that we can see, achieve, hold on to, or control.

Paul gives an example. As far as Judaism goes: Paul was at the top of the class. Not only was he born into the privilege of a strong, practicing Jewish pedigree—but he also had the smarts and the drive to pursue that Jewish faith to the Nth degree—not content even just with the achievements of joining the legally righteous Pharisaical sect, but also pursuing an absolutely faultless life and a zealous persecution of all those who stepped outside it—like Christians. But now: all these things he once considered gain, he now counts as loss.

Mark this well: Paul does not see his previous privilege and achievements as garbage—they were gains! But in light of the surpassing greatness and sufficiency of Jesus and him alone—he considers all else loss. Even what he had previously considered as gains.

So it is for our wealth and our institutions, our success and our knowledge—they may very well be gains in any other sense. But they don't save us. There's nothing there to put confidence in. In fact, compared to the all surpassing sufficiency of Christ, they are a loss. Or perhaps betters said, they are to be lost. Our need for them has to die, such that we hold on to nothing else but Jesus. This is what Paul's getting at.

What gains in the world of the flesh do you rest your understanding of your security, worth, and belonging upon? That is, your salvation? Does it rest on nothing but Jesus? Or are there some Jesus-and sorts of things you hold on to that need to be lost for the sake of Christ?