But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Philippians 3:7
Reading this it finally struck me: those things Paul “lost for the sake of Christ” are the same things that gave him standing, merit, and importance in his community.
If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.Philippians 3:4b-6
Without them, Paul wasn’t as important or useful in his old life.
This “confidence in the flesh,” which the world so highly prizes, weren’t taken away from him, but they no longer could be attributed to Paul. By this I mean, these things no longer gave Paul the approval of men. He lost his reputation for the sake of Christ.
For me, this parallels as an example of my struggles. In the summer of 2004, I came to San Diego to visit my family for the summer and work to save money for the next year (I was between my junior/senior year). However, at the end of the summer I didn’t have enough money to return and loans were not an option for me. I decided to quit school and took a job working as a houseparent at a boarding school for troubled girls.
This was not an easy decision. My whole identity was wrapped up in what and how I did in school.
In high school, I did everything. My goal was the perfect transcript. I played waterpolo, softball, volleyball, soccer, and swam on swim team. I played in the band and sang in the choir. I was in Model United Nations. I spent three years on the drama team and a year as vice president of the drama club. I was in National Honor Society and graduated third in my class. I was class president my junior and senior year.
In college, I was an English Education major. I maintained a GPA above 3.0 and the first semester after I transferred to Winthrop University I was invited to be a part of Kappa Delta Pi – International Honor Society in Education, which meant a 3.5 GPA. I participated in Leadership Winthrop, was part of the Alumni Association on campus, was accepted on the board of the student union (one of the best in the country at the time) for my returning semester, and eligible for the school’s honors program.
This wasn’t just a hard decision. It was a HUGE decision! I would later learn that God was stripping me of everything I thought I was. And that was a painful process.
My greatest fear was that everyone thought I was stupid. No one knew my background, all my allcolades. I felt I had to prove myself. I spent years like this, feeling like I didn’t measure up and everyone was better than me. Better jobs, complete education.
My struggle: the loss of everything that society merits as worthwhile.
I had lost it all…but for what?
Tagged as:
Bible,
For the sake of Christ,
growth,
Philippians
