00:00:00 Thanks for joining me on episode 712 of the inspired stewardship podcast. I'm Joel hall, Baker, teacher speaker, and author of inverted leadership. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence and impact the world by using your time, your talent and your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to lead through confident humility is key.
00:00:25 And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott Mader. In fact, he talks about finding something better. You know, I think sometimes we focus way too much and spend way too much time on what is wrong with the world. What we should avoid, what is broken, what is fallen,
00:00:54 but in this passage, Paul is talking about looking beyond that. Welcome, and thank you for joining us on the inspired stewardship podcasts. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be, then you must learn to use your time, your talent and your treasures for your true calling in the inspired stewardship podcast. Learn to invest in yourself,
00:01:18 invest in others and develop your influence so that you can impact the world. In today's spiritual foundation episode about impacting the world. I talk with you about Philippians chapter three, verses four through 14, why Paul recognizes what he has, but doesn't count it and why it's time to not just recognize the rubbish in our lives, but to press on towards the Philippians Chapter three,
00:01:54 verses four through 14 reads like this. This is Paul speaking. And he says, if anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews as to the law, a Pharisee as to zeal a persecutor of the church as to righteousness under the law blameless yet,
00:02:18 whatever gains I had these, I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and our guard them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own,
00:02:41 that comes from the law. But one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith, I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death. If somehow I made it attain the resurrection from the dead, not that I have already this, or have already reached the goal,
00:03:01 but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me his own beloved. I do not consider that I've made it my own, but this one thing I do forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. You know, this idea of pressing on resonates with me so much right now in 2020,
00:03:30 Paul is talking about recognizing that he has these goals. He has these privileges. He has these things that he's been given, these giftings and everything else. But the truth is that though, he feels confident in these things. They are rubbish. They are nothing compared to his grace because of what he's found and in relationship to Christ, what's more, he even recognizes that these giftings are things that he could use.
00:04:00 Things like his Roman citizenship, which has helped him in various tight spots, but yet instill these things that he can use. He sees as a loss because these privileges are getting in his way for where he wants to be. He rejects this glory, this form, or blessing that he had, these privileges that he's had. And the truth is that we tend to think about the gospel and we tend to think about things.
00:04:32 And we tend to think of them as faith is just a little way to be a little nicer, a little happier in the world. It just works out on the edges, the places where we have room to add Jesus. But what Paul is talking about here is completely re-entry reorienting completely turning his life around and creating an all new life that has a completely different orientation to it.
00:04:59 Now, the interesting thing is this, this text makes it sound like it's a light switch. Like it's an either or like one day you're this way and the next year that, but then he also talks about not being there yet, that too much of the old life is hanging on. You know, that this sort of thing is keeping him stuck,
00:05:23 but he uses instead most of the time to focus on what is gained rather than what is last. He looks forward at the things that he's gained, the new way of looking at his life. He talks about the value of knowing that he's saved. He talks about looking to where he's heading and not just focusing on the trash. In fact, he talks about finding something better.
00:05:51 You know, I think sometimes we focus way too much and spend way too much time on what is wrong with the world, what we should avoid, what is broken, what is fallen. But in this passage, Paul is talking about looking beyond that. He's talking about looking beyond it and seeing some times that it's not just about seeing the problem. It's not just about diagnosing the problem.
00:06:18 It's about casting vision of a new life as well. He talks about pressing on into the future. You know, the truth is recognizing what you've had, recognizing the privilege you've had, recognizing the blessings you've had, recognizing how sometimes those things get in the way and hold us back is important. But what's more is recognizing that each and every day, we just press on towards perfection.
00:06:49 We hold fast in the moments that we have and that's all that we ever can be called to do. Thanks for listening. Thanks so much for listening to the inspired stewardship podcast, as a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoy this episode,
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