Philippians 3:5-16
Press on Toward the Goal
Often when we
reflect upon our lives, we will naturally come to ask ourselves, “What is my
life goal? What is the meaning and purpose of my life? Am I satisfied with my
life?”
Often we make
up our mind to follow the Lord, and we set our heart to do something for God.
But we always give up halfway. It would really be wonderful if we could keep on
moving towards our goals.
In the book
of Philippians 3:12-14, Paul said something like this:
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.
It seemed
that Paul was never satisfied with his ministry because his goal seemed to be always
ahead of him and that required him to press on to attain it. We all are to have
goals, and God wants us to reach the goals. Yet in reality it is as if we will
never attain our goals. It is so contradicting.
In fact, this
is not the real contradiction. This is known as unity of opposites in
dialectical reasoning.
Paul’s
discontentment is one kind of non-satisfaction in the midst of his contentment.
It differs from the discontentment that worldly people are dissatisfied over
their discontentment.
The worldly
people’s world view of contentment depends largely on their achievement.
Therefore, man can never be satisfied for no worldly achievement could truly
satisfy man.
But Paul was
unsatisfied over this contentment, and his contentment was not built upon his
worldly achievement.
Paul was very
successful even before he became a Christian.
He said in
verses 5-6, that he was “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.”
Hence, Paul
was more knowledgeable than the apostles of Jesus. However, he told us that he
only gained his real satisfaction when he gained Christ.
Paul
continued his statement in verses 7-8. “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.”
Paul was
contented with Christ, but he was unsatisfied at the same time as he had yet to
receive the reward from Jesus Christ. He was already contented in Christ, but
he wanted to be gotten hold by Christ. That will make him more satisfied.
Paul was in
his condition of contentment, yet he continued to grow in it.
This is to
say that we are to feel unsatisfied on one hand and seek to pursue growth
because we have yet to attain our goal. On the other hand, we are to be
satisfied with the level we have achieved so far. This is exactly what Paul is
talking about, “Only let us
live up to what we have already attained.” (Philippians 3:16)
“Only let us live up to what we
have already attained” is about being satisfied with what we have now.
Yet we press on toward a higher goal and this expresses a kind of
non-satisfaction.
Therefore, we
have a goal to strain for, yet we are contented in the midst of our pursuit.
This is Paul’s attitude in serving: “Unsatisfied over contentment and
contentment over non-satisfaction”.
When we are
able to accept whatever stage God has allowed us to reach thus far, we will be
joyous and contented with the current achievement we have attained before the
Lord, even if we have encountered difficulties along our serving journey and
the goal ahead of us seems unlikely to be reached at the moment.
It’s like If
your church has a hundred people and you would like forty of them to attend the
prayer meeting, and you try your best to encourage others to come for prayers,
but it ends up only ten of them turning up!
Or if your
church has a hundred people and you wish that there are twenty who will join
the choir team. But there are fewer than that in the choir team. Will you be
joyous and contented to serve under such conditions?
Paul taught
us that the goal might be very high, but we have to rejoice and be contented in
whatever level we have reached. We have to accept where we are, and to move on
according to that level.
This is not
to say that we do not seek to progress, but it is because we have set a very
high goal that we have to press on toward it with a lifetime effort.
This is a
spiritual paradox. There is no perfect church in the world, and there is always
an unreached goal in our journey of serving. However, we have to be grateful
and contented with our current situation and to keep on striving for better to
attain our goal.
We just need
to do our part well and do what we are supposed to do in our serving journey.
God will be responsible for the level of our advancement. Hence, we are able to
be contented in whatever state we are in with the achievement given to us by
God.
In reality,
the real satisfaction in our ministry has nothing to do with the number of
people attending prayer meetings or joining choir team. If our satisfaction
lies on something like this, we are indeed “satisfied over our own ambition”.
Such serving attitude is no different from the way people work in the market
place.
“I have
achieved something and I am satisfied.” This kind of serving attitude is building
our own kingdoms.
Paul had a
different attitude. He had forgotten what was behind him and he strained for
what was ahead of him, by pressing on toward his goal. He was very successful in the eyes of others,
but he felt unsatisfied before God. Hence, he purposed to forget what was
behind and strained toward what was ahead of him.
Paul’s
contentment is a sense of “non-satisfaction over contentment”. It is when we
are contented in the midst of our non-satisfaction, and unsatisfied over our
contentment, that we have real kingdom ministry.
What is our
goal in serving? Is it to satisfy our own ambition or to be contented over the
things God wants us to attain? Everyone who serves God must ask himself/herself
such a question before Him.
We have our
own laziness and many times we feel like slowing down, and we will not set
higher goals again because we want to live in our comfort zones and lead our
mediocre lives. But this is not a serving attitude that pleases God.
In contrast
to this, someone might seek to do great things and he/she might be ambitious to
achieve great feats. This does not seek to satisfy God but instead ourselves.
Let’s pay
attention to Paul’s words, “to
take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Our goal is to take hold of what God
has for us.
If I have the thought of holding a high position,
and I consider myself indispensable, I am not seeking what God wants to take
hold of me. Or in other words, if I
pursue nothing and just live a mediocre life, I am also not taking hold of what
God has taken hold of me.
Therefore,
our contentment or discontentment has to be defined by God. We are to seek to
finish the race God has for us and our goal should be determined by Him. Our
responsibility is to finish the race, and it is not about doing more or less,
with big or small achievements. It is about us finishing our race well.
Paul said in
2 Timothy 4:7, that “I have fought the good
fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
Neither did
Paul say that he was the champion, nor did he said he fought a better fight
than others. But he said he had fought and he had finished the race. He had
finished the race God set forth for him.
Serving God
is liken to running a Marathon. Comparing it with the Olympic Games, there is
something very different in Marathon.
There are gold, silver and bronze medal prepared for normal games, but
not so in Marathon.
All the
people who finish their races will get souvenirs as an encouragement to them. Of
course, there are more rewards given to the first three winners, but it is
finishing the race that is the goal of Marathon.
We are not
striving to run to get the first three places in the race of ministry. It is
all about whether you have finished your race and whether you have travelled
your journey. God has given each one of us a very different goal and path, and
we have to finish the race in order to take hold of what God has taken hold of
us.
If we run
with such an attitude, our lives will be filled with a sense of
non-satisfaction over our contentment, as well as a sense of contentment over
our non-satisfaction. This is indeed a joyous and contented life, filled with
gratefulness to God and to people around us.
Conclusion
We cannot
control our future. We truly dare not ask God to allow us to do something.
Whatever our journey maybe in future, we have to submit to God’s arrangement.
Only then are we able to make what the Lord Jesus has taken hold of us to be
our very real goal.
We are not to
make and write down our own resolutions and then take it before the Lord Jesus
to ask for His signature in agreement. Instead, we are to sign first on the
paper and present it to the Lord Jesus for Him to fill up the blanks.
We will make
the Lord Jesus our surpassing worth and our contentment in all ministerial
situations when we possess such an attitude. We seek not the glory and praises
for ourselves, but we seek to accomplish things that Jesus Christ has entrusted
to us.
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