"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ."
Philippians 3:7-9
Rubbish to Righteousness
The whole phrase rubbish to righteousness sounds like a quaint, complex, and quintessentially British deal that ultimately is too good to be true, eh? Who would ever trade garbage for gold? Whenever I hear the word rubbish, I immediately imagine a grainy film of the burly Winston Churchill delivering one of his fiery speeches in his classic English tenor. The phrase itself is catchy (Side Note: I think the science of picking out sweet, gnarly names for our blogs, photo albums, and just about every other personal property we may own would be a fascinating study. Maybe it's the topic of a future blog post.) In the meantime, while 'Rubbish to Righteousness' was available as a blog name, sounds so epic, and of course re-quotes part of the best book of the Bible ever (Philippians...holler!) what's the whole point? In short, I think "Rubbish to Righteousness" succinctly conveys a profound truth of the Christian life and more importantly the Gospel.
We try to claim selfish motives to save ourselves from the righteous wrath of God. we put confidence in the flesh. we boast in what we could earn or achieve. besides ignoring God's infinite blessings to us (that nothing comes of ourselves) our selfishness devolves God of his rightful honor and glory. He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, and nothing comes about apart from his hand. Intellectually we all hear this, but how often do I realize this, and live out of this? For years I believed a need for Jesus, but lived in a manner of saving myself. In Paul's in his letter to the Philippians before this awesome passage, he gives a laundry list worth of awesome religious credentials that validated him in his society. He was the living essence of a theological stud. He was a perennial All Star in the Pharisee Big Leagues. But then God supernaturally stepped into Paul's life and radically reoriented his priorities. Paul tells this church he took his religious credentials and threw them in the garbage. Literally Paul says everything. Everything. Nothing comes close to comparing. Everything he worked for became nothing of importance to him. Why? But he realized only Jesus, rich in mercy could resolved this problem. He offers this amazing exchange we can't gain ourselves from the law. Jesus offers his perfected righteousness in our place. Isaiah 61:10, Romans 13:4, When we recognize our utter need for him and repent of our sins, we begin surrendering our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. We trust Christ, we believe. By the purchased blood of the cross, Jesus Christ saved us once and for all. His blood appeases the wrath of God and we stand justified. Thus, We are declared righteous! We are clothed with Christ. We are free from the law! The big theological word for this onetime act is justification.
Before a holy God and Creator of the universe, our meagerness equates to nothing. Garbage. Dirty rags.
Because we stand justified before God, we can walk and have a personal relationship with him. he loved us to the point of death. The best part of walking in relationship with this Jesus Christ is he promises more to us than just eternal justification. Daily we need to hear the preaching of the Gospel in our hearts, in order to know better than to declare a righteousness of ourselves in the flesh. Early in the letter out of encouragement, Paul writes, "i am sure of this, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Jesus not only saves, but he does the work. The big theological word is sanctification, or being formed more and more into the image of Jesus Christ. Our responsibility before God is to continue to have faith. We abide, rest and remain. He forms us like Jesus, not for our own selfish reasons or to make us feel better, but for the glory of his name. we bear the name of Christian, and he makes us into that image. God is an active and dynamic God at work here.But the process too. It may not be easy or enjoyable. Rather, if it's a process of eradicating the roots of sin and selfishness, the process will probably be quite painful.
Because we stand justified before God, we can walk and have a personal relationship with him. he loved us to the point of death. The best part of walking in relationship with this Jesus Christ is he promises more to us than just eternal justification. Daily we need to hear the preaching of the Gospel in our hearts, in order to know better than to declare a righteousness of ourselves in the flesh. Early in the letter out of encouragement, Paul writes, "i am sure of this, he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Jesus not only saves, but he does the work. The big theological word is sanctification, or being formed more and more into the image of Jesus Christ. Our responsibility before God is to continue to have faith. We abide, rest and remain. He forms us like Jesus, not for our own selfish reasons or to make us feel better, but for the glory of his name. we bear the name of Christian, and he makes us into that image. God is an active and dynamic God at work here.But the process too. It may not be easy or enjoyable. Rather, if it's a process of eradicating the roots of sin and selfishness, the process will probably be quite painful.But it is worth it. Paul says that nothing can surpass knowing Jesus Christ. There is meaning there. It is worth everything we have ever earned. Jesus Christ is worthy of all of us. In fact, it surpasses everything. . Later Paul says this righteousness from God "depends on faith"
If some of these concepts are new, or you have never read about the hope and power of the Gospel, I would plead with you to check out the Gospel tab above. It might take about 5 or 10 minutes. Or just imagine the Geico Gecko quoting "Just 15 minutes could save you...." except, in this case you're not saving money or time or anything. In fact YOU aren't saving anything. Only Jesus saves, and he saves them from the eternal wrath of God. Alright, I promise to stop preaching, but please just check out the link.
If you are still with me you can see the the most simplistic goal of this blog is to see the grandeur and majesty of Jesus Christ glorified. We do this by continually declaring the single most God-glorifying narrative in all of history, the story of the Gospel.
A Tour of a Blog's Goals
Somehow, this glorious story of the Gospel will never get old, and probably will grace many more posts in the future. For now, it's time to define what glorifying God in this blog might look like and give you a small tour of things to regularly expect throughout these pages. Here are a couple of my ideas and a primer on some of my posts:- Dan's Daily Dose: I read. I learned sometime around kindergarten and haven't forgotten how quite yet. As much as I read, I often want to share some of this awesome content. Mostly its about old dead theologians, big dry books called theology, or nerdy information for pastors, but it just as well could be about a lax rapper named Con Bro Chill or how Tim Tebow dominates. The hope is to synthesize alot of the content I read and give you an idea about some of these articles, with the occasional commentary. Hopefully it'll be interesting, and definitely contain some content for all ages. And no promises on the "daily" aspect of this title- there's a good chance this lazy doctor may miss a couple doses each week!
- Reflections and Teaching: Occasionally, I do have original thoughts. Somewhere along this road, God blessed me with the ability to both observe and communicate some truths of God that should affect our lives. First and foremost, I am preaching and teaching myself. No doubt, it's awkward at times to figure out best how to steward giftings, but just as a talented musician should try to practice leveraging music to glorify God's, I hope to practice communicating clearly and concisely truths about God. Your comments, critiques and responses are appreciated as I grow in this process. Posts may not read quite like a journal or devotional, although at times entries may be ripped out of my own past writings.
- By the way, here's just a primer of some the categories I often reflect on and hope to write about in the future (soon!): Article Commentaries, Books, The Church, Discipleship, Financial, Evangelism, The Gospel, Leadership, My Life, Movements, Pastoral, Praise, Prayer, Quotes, Reformed Thoughts, Relationships, Scripture Reflections, Sports, Society & Culture, Theology, Worship, and Ministry Vision.
- Personal Updates: I am soon to be an officer in the Navy. A blog gives me a space to collect my thoughts and observations both day to day, and especially as I may be on deployment or out of the country long stretches of time. Also, I do feel a call to full-time ministry, and I have a big dream. (see Ministry Vision) I love to invest deeply in my community, relationships, and friendships, yet I never feel capable of keeping people up-to-date on my life. I figured this was a great medium from which people can check in on my life, and a little different than people just Facebook stalking me and all my picture albums.
- Raps, Lyrics, Music, and Books: So I occasionally write some raps or completely goof off. OK maybe not just occasionally, but most of the time. Just call them moments of creative genius from the Holy Spirit. Maybe a few will show up on here for some fun, or maybe I'll just cop out and link a bunch of music I like online. In addition, as I continue working through my library and reading list, I hope to reflect, review, quote, and recommend books that I find intriguing or helpful as I read and explore.
- HAVE FUN: Why do I sound so serious? C'mon. I absolutely love having fun, so I couldn't imagine not trying to spread the wealth of shenanigans and tom-foolery around a bit.
