Getting to the end of the two-week challenge has led to some powerful words! Paul ends Philippians with some sensible and clear directions on living.
Somehow chapters 3 and 4 of Philippians are both a defense and a reason for being a follower of Christ. It is interesting that once again, Paul, like James, John and Peter warn the "church" to watch out for false teachers. It would be easy to ask "where did they come from – they were right there, that close to the historical event." Yet they were there ready to mislead the early church. No wonder the church started out with Councils which have set down again and again over the years what being a follower is all about.
It is not that the Gospel has changed, just that people don't take the time to read and study it themselves, and so begin to believe what someone "says" about it. That's why the leaders of the early church again and again had to remind people of what Jesus said and did.
Paul was in a unique position, having been a man who at first thought that all those believers were wrong, and should be wiped from the face of the earth. His mission before he became a believer was to search out the early church and see that it was stamped out. But, it is his past that allows him to speak in this letter. He says "If you think all those people who want you to follow laws so you can be right, look at me. I followed all the laws! I was mister perfect, but all that was a losing proposition because of what Christ did!" (3:4-11 my condensed version)
He wanted to make it clear that he knew he wasn't perfect, but was going to continue working toward finishing the race. What imagery for us. What an example. Here was a man who had met all the requirements for how to live, but he said "it wasn't enough!" He wanted to get the prize for what God had called him to be and do.
Humility shines out here. There is a little hidden lesson for those of us who think we have been Christians a long time. That lesson is buried in the verses that end with the race analogy. We are not perfect! We should not think of ourselves that way. (3:15)
Chapter four has some great slogan verses. When we look at them, they challenge us to live our lives differently.
- Rejoice always
- Visible gentleness
- No Worry
- Pray!
That's enough work to keep me busy every day of my life. Any one of these by itself is hard enough to do, and then he puts them all together!
For me, one of the keys of Philippians is in Paul's "Whatever" list in verse 8. Just reading the list gives you pictures of your life that have to give us hope. They challenge us to better things – get out minds out of or off our problems.
Makes me question what I spend my time thinking about. Do I spend time on the good or the bad? And then, do I put it into practice?
That's the real question. Now that you read it, are you doing it?