RCC Core Values Series: "It's Not Where You're At, It's Where You're Going"
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7 Core Value Statements:
People Matter To God
We Were Made For Community
God’s Spirit Empowers Us To Live Differently
It’s Not Where You’re At, It’s Where You’re Going
God Honors Those Who Honor Him
Generational Transfer Is Important
The Gates Of Hell Will Not Prevail Against The Church
Core Values:
We expect spiritual growth, but what is to be the source of this growth?
We are committed to discipleship, but which ideology drives our discipleship?
Our desire is to honoring God especially when facing pressure to conform with standards outside of His will.
Turn with me in the Bible to Philippians 3:8-16
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 a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
Let us pray.
We are 4 weeks into the new year. How many of you began 2021 with New Year Resolutions? And to those of you watching online who want to answer this question, take heart, the Lord can see you.
Now, if you answered “yes” to the beginning of this year with resolutions or goals, how are you doing in your pursuit of these things?
I read online somewhere that on average, 80% New Year’s resolutions fail by the second week of February.
Now, some of those resolutions probably needed to be abandoned because they were either unrealistic or just not good things to pursue.
In the passage I just read to you, Paul wants his readers to give up pursuing some things. He even gives a personal testimony of the things he gave up on.
But what does Paul give up on?
Ethnic privileges as a Jew
Gaining acceptance and fame in the highest religious club in Israel.
Trusting in himself to gain approval and blessing from God.
Paul when began to understand Christ, he saw the futility of trusting in those things. In verse 8, he says I count this stuff as loss. Why does he count them as loss?
He counts them as loss because he no longer buys into the “strong delusion” that this is how you live a life pleasing to God.
For Paul, to boast in his Jewishness, his training and advancement in Judaism is to have zero room in his heart for King Jesus. So he goes on to say at the end of verse 8, that he considers all his religious progress rubbish/excrement/trash so that he might gain Christ.
Paul is warning the church in Philippi to avoid some of the same challenges we face today:
Worldly yokes and/or heavy religious yokes cannot lead to:
spiritual growth in Christ
true blessings from God
acceptance with God
So Paul warns the Philippians in Philippians 3:2
Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.
The dogs are the people who reject God and chose to live according to the moral standards of this world.
The mutilators of the flesh are religious folk who trust in their own righteousness and religious activity.
The evildoers are all, people from every camp, who break God’s commandments.
The church at Philippi is warned, do not give in to either of these camps, worldly yoke or the religious yoke. Paul acknowledges that he was once a member of the religious yoke, and that his freedom came as a result of repentance and faith in Christ Jesus.
Today, we all feel these pressures in various ways. We feel worldly pressure to be successful in the eyes of the world. A young person in the church may question why commit to purity when all around me, other young people have thrown off restraint. God doesn’t seem to notice my efforts or their rebellion, you might think.
Some even talk about “living our best life now.” So, if you can’t show on social media that you’re happy and blessed, then you’re doing life wrong.
This is pressure on young people because you encounter these ideas everywhere. But think for a moment, if this is your best life now, then how bad will your life after death be?
What are some other worldly pressures/temptations that you see vying for the hearts of Christians?
As Paul noted, in addition to being on the watch against worldly dogs, There are also false religious yokes that people will put on you as well.
Years ago, I met a young college guy who was feeling convicted for his immoral lifestyle. In response to his sin, he decided to become a catholic priest to earn God’s good graces and to deny his fleshly desires. That’s getting pretty close to being a mutilator of the flesh. By the way, that’s completely opposite to the advice that the Bible gives to young people in his situation. Unfortunately, he could not hear the Biblical wisdom because Christ was not the ultimate prize for him.
But I’ve also seen church people misuse the spiritual practice of fasting as a way of trying to clean up their past indiscretions or as a way to earn God’s favor. Fasting that declares your own worthiness or seeks to prove your worthiness is sinful. Fasting with a works mindset that says, “I did my part, God needs to do his,” is sinful.
But fasting is a great spiritual practice if it is done with humility and dependence on God. Fasting that releases the power of God is done from the same place that Paul speaks from in Philippians 3:8
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
Christ as everything is the difference between a false religious yoke and true faith in God.
This is why Paul gives up on his on ethnic privileges as a Jew. This is why Paul gives up on trying to climb the ladder of success in the eye of the Jewish religious system.
This is why Paul has given up on himself in trying to prove his righteousness before God.
Paul has given up on these things so that he can pursue Christ with all his heart, mind soul and strength.
The difficulty for some of us maybe that he dogs and the mutilators of the flesh are trying to get us to give up on Christ.
The key in this struggle:
What is truth?
What is power?
What is our ultimate goal?
Paul answers this simply, Christ is truth. That is what we see in the first two verse. Everything else is rubbish in comparison to Christ.
In Philippians 3:10 he shows us power of knowing Christ. Which is newness of life and becoming like Christ.
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Then in verse 11 Philippians 3:11 he articulates his ultimate goal, to be with Christ, who was the first of the sons of God to be resurrected from the dead.
that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
And following these verses is where we get to our core value statement of “It’s not where you’re at, but where you’re going,” that really matters.
Because right away in verses 12-14, the apostle Paul indicates that he was on a journey. Philippians 3:12-14
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
He says, Jesus is my truth, the gospel of Christ is power of God in my life and that ultimately wants to finish the journey not as a hero in the eyes of the world, not as a super spiritual person, but he wants the journey to end with Him being with Christ enjoying the kingdom!
And notice that he refuses to think that he already obtained it. What does that mean? Well it means, he refuses to convince himself that by doing some kind of religious activity that he can secure his salvation with God. On the contrary, he believes that his salvation is secure because he now belongs to Christ Jesus.
The significance of this statement often escapes us. There were religious people who followed Paul from town to town, telling the churches that he started that Paul was not proclaiming the truth.
On top of this, there were gentiles that hated him for preaching Christ. Yet Paul, clung to this idea that Jesus Christ is the truth and so he kept preaching.
and as he kept on preaching, he suffered beatings, times of being unsheltered and hungry, and of course the devil asked him, where is the power of God? Of course the devil tempted him, saying Paul, you could be living your best life now but instead, you chose to keep preaching Christ.
Again, for Paul, Christ is the truth, the power and the only worthwhile future. In verse 14 Philippians 3:14 he says,
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
And may we learn, by the grace of God to let go of worldly pursuits, to let go of false religious burdens and expectations, and learn to press onward and upward in Christ.
Paul says if you are mature, you will think this way, and if not, the Spirit will convict you of your blindness.
In closing, every Christian is placed in the middle of a great cosmic and ancient struggle. We must be aware of doggish standards of the world and the false religious yokes of the mutilators.
We must see that our lives portray the realities of a journey. At no point in our journey to the King should we ever stop to measure our progress in this life by the standards of this world. At no point should we measure our righteousness based on our own works. We must always, cling to Christ because to Christ we belong.
He walks with us on this journey. We are never far from his sight or his reach. He keeps very good accounting of his sheep.
When Paul suffered, he found consolation in Christ. When the enemy attacked him, he found Christ to be his fortress. And when he hit those down and lowly days, he looked upward to Christ, through the eyes of faith, he is able to hear his master and savior calling, and encouraging him.
You and I are no different from Paul in that we need the same Christ to walk with us, to protect us with his staff and to strengthen us when our hearts wander from our shepherd.
Brothers and sisters, you and I are called to reveal the kingdom of Christ here on earth. In the midst of this ancient and cosmic struggle to bring about the kingdom of God, we have learned to say, “It’s not where we’re at, it’s about where we’re going.” And all things will serve Christ.
Closing Blessing:
2 Peter 3:18
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.