If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 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; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ Philippians3:4-8
Paul was a trader!
He traded all the earthly milestones and monuments (genealogy, education, achievement and position) for the awesome privilege of having, knowing and gaining Christ.
Many people have spoken and written about the Greek word for "rubbish" that Paul uses in v.8. According to my Greek Dictionary, the word means "dung", "smelly garbage", "excrement" and implies "contemptuous rejection."
But I am interested in the other word, the noun "loss" ('zemeian'), that Paul repeats twice in this passage. The same word also appears as a verb ("lost") in v.8. The noun form of this word also appears in Acts 27 in connection with the shipwreck that Paul is in on the way to Rome. In the account Paul assures the captain and the crew that the ship and cargo will suffer loss, but that all lives will be spared.
In Afrikaans we talk about "aardse goed" (earthly things) when we have a break-in or accident or some other disaster. We remind ourselves that our "stuff" is temporary and temporal. What matters is people and what matters is our character and our soul.
Paul trades in THAT WHICH HE CANNOT KEEP,
for THAT WHICH HE CANNOT LOSE.
Paul would rather have Christ, know Christ and gain Christ.
Are we hanging onto stuff and hubris when we should consider them as "loss" and "rubbish" in the light of Christ???
---
--------------------------
Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
