2019年10月21日星期一

Forgetting What is Behind, Press On Toward the Goal



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.
Hence, we shall be fully contented in Christ, and with God’s presence, we will be extremely peaceful in whatever circumstance we are in. By then, we are truly in Christ and are taken hold by Him.

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