To Know Him

When the congregation in Philippi was established by Paul, the three prominent foundation members were Lydia (a wealthy businesswoman), a slave-girl who'd lost her (demonic) ability to foretell the future and a civil-servant jailer and his family. So there was already a vast disparity in the social status positions of the members.

In addition, Philippi had become a place where retired military officers would settle. This strong military presence (although retired) strengthened this border town, but also permeated the community with all the aspects that go with the military: discipline, medals (achievements), rank, order and structure.

Then came along some Judaizers (Jewish Christians who insisted that you needed to be circumcised to be a real Christian). They used their status as teachers of the law to "pull rank" on the Philippian believers and to bolster their arguments.

Paul deals with this kind of snobbery decisively. He puts out his own CV of academic and societal achievements and then, after comparing the very best of his achievements to the privilege of knowing Jesus, says: "I consider them rubbish!" (The word for rubbish means "dung" or "offal".)

If you could imagine Paul's life as a balance scale, then one end of the scale (his delight in Christ) is so heavy that the ground underneath it is dented and cracked, while the stuff on the other side (his pedigree and achievements) is wobbling and bouncing around uselessly. There's just no comparison.

Then Paul prays an incredibly hungry prayer which you can read below. He is so enthralled by the love of Christ that he's not only longing for the benefits of that relationship (resurrection), but he'll gladly walk the road of suffering and even death so long as he can know Christ. (The phrase, "somehow attain to the resurrection" isn't about effort, it's about the fact that he doesn't even understand how God raises the dead, but he's willing to walk through the door of death into the unknown.)

Do you long for Jesus, your Lord and Savior, as much as Paul does? Or are you a fair-weather Christian? Gospel singer Wayne Watson sang, "I'd rather walk in the dark with Jesus than walk in the light on my own." (I think he and Paul will be good buddies.)