Philippians 3:7-9; Accomplishments

“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 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.”

Last week Paul told us about his boast-worthy accomplishments.  A very impressive list too.  In today’s vernacular it would sound something like:

“I was raised in the church, my dad was a deacon and my mom taught Sunday school and sang in the choir.  I was baptized at 9 years old, active in the youth group, went on mission trips, and was a leader in my college ministry, I helped with the poor and other charities, started bible studies in my dorm room, graduated from seminary and worked for a para-church organization after graduation.”

Like Paul’s list, these are all very good things.  You should be involved in the church and help with the poor and be a leader.  But the million dollar question is this: Deep down, do you do these things to earn God’s approval?  Do you feel you NEED to do them or God will be angry or disappointed?  Do you draw your self-worth and identity from the things you do?

You can do all the right things for all the wrong reasons.  Relationship with Christ is not about what we do for Him, it’s about what Christ has already done for us.  We are saved by grace, sustained by grace, and one day will be glorified completely because of grace.  We cannot earn it and we cannot pay it back.  We are totally, completely, utterly and absolutely dependent upon the grace of God for everything…and I mean EVERYTHING!

Paul looked at his accomplishments, his diplomas and degrees and said, “They are garbage.”  The Greek word for garbage means literally, “waste thrown to dogs, like filthy scraps of garbage (table-scraps, dung, muck, sweepings); refuse, what is good-for-nothing except to be discarded.” Our accomplishments apart from Christ are just that: waste thrown to dogs.

I challenge you to dive deep into your motivation for serving Christ.  Are you working to earn God’s approval or are you serving because God has already approved you?  Freedom, joy and peace are the byproduct of serving out of love; bitterness, fatigue and resentment are byproducts of working out of obligation.  Which of those sound more like your life?

And honestly, I operate out of both…often in the same day. I am wildly inconsistent in this area.  But that is okay – God’s grace covers that too.  We’ll dig into this passage a little more over the next couple of weeks, but a quick summary: cling to Christ, not your accomplishments.

“All outward things, unless He work in them and by them, are in vain.” – John Wesley