By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
October 04, 2026
Click Here to Join our meeting for Worship
Philippians 3:4–14 (ESV)
If anyone else thinks he has reason for 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; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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 9 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— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12 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. 13 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, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
“If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:”
We meet Paul again in his letter to the Philippians. Remember that this is a group of people that is passionate about their faith. They are actively participating, they are supporting the ministries within their own community and are even enabling the ministry of other, like Paul, in their missionary journeys. This is important to remember. Even early in the church, within the first church of Europe, which would eventually grow into what is known as Christian-dom, or the Western church, people were actively praying for and providing resources toward the expansion of the gospel.
Paul did not have a single thing to say to this church that was negative. You might think, if there was nothing negative, what was all that last week? There were some things within their cultural framework that could potentially limit the progression of the growing Kingdom influence.
By most standards, Philippi was a comfortable, potentially considered wealthy, community. They were situated near the coast, but not on the coast. This gave them access to regional trade, without the problems that having a port might bring in. And this was a community that was settled by retire soldiers. Soldiers honorably discharged were given a sizable parting income, which throughout much of the empirical period included a parcel of land. And a community that had a significant population consisting of these retired soldiers, would have an upper middle class to wealthy economy. They had financial means, they had land to grow their own wealth, and they had one more thing that many that populated the empire did not have, citizenship.
This word is a hot topic in our contemporary era. We think of it being extremely important and for most of us we did nothing to gain that label. Citizenship in Rome was different. There was birthright citizenship, but this was not common. This was something that was largely only for those that were born into the ruling class of people, the elites. These were the people that served in the government, were representatives in the senate, and occupied the various governor residences within the territories. This would represent, what today would be the top one percent of the population. What about the rest of the people? The vast majority were slaves. One could become a slave in a variety of ways. You could have been a captured enemy combatant. Maybe, you were in financial ruin and the only option was to sell yourself in to slavery, or maybe you were just born that way. Slave were a significant part of the population, but there was another group, the merchants, or the freemen. This was a group of people that caused the ruling class to worry. They were not citizen and they were not slaves. They were not allowed to participate in society outside of trade, yet much of the laws that were enacted were instituted to manage and control them. They would give these freemen just enough liberty to keep them happy, just enough financial assistance to keep them quiet, and just enough opportunity to keep them occupied. But they did not want them to get any ideas that might threaten the status quo.
Philippi was a town that had a high number of citizens. It was basically a community of citizens and slaves. Not much in between, because the merchants lived around the ports, or were skilled tradesmen that worked in the markets. This community was filled with people that had the one thing most other comminutes lacked, it was a community of citizens.
Paul writes to this community of people, and he reminds them that they must do nothing out of selfishness, or conceit. That we should regard others better than ourselves. He reminds them of this because it is easy to forget that there is a human life at the other end of our policies. It is too easy to regard people as a faceless group instead of them as unique image bearers like ourselves. And when we dehumanize and marginalize humanity, it becomes easy to make decisions that only benefit the group we consider most important. Paul is warning them, not because it is happening right now. No he is warning them because it can happen, he has seen it happen before, and he earnestly prays that it will not happen with this community.
Yet they are prideful. And according to the standards of the world they have every right to have that pride. In their culture they have it all, but Paul is telling them that their confidence is misplaced.
I think, at times, we do not realize the unique aspects of our spiritual heritage. In most ancient cultures, their identities seem to get swallowed up within the cultural mainstream. The things that once made them unique tend to almost vanish. Little things might remain. Language is one aspect of culture that might remain within certain regions, perhaps some skilled art in weaving or pottery. But it is often difficult to distinguish a clear division between one culture and another. If you were to ask most people what the difference between a Russian and Ukrainian were they would be unable to tell you. Or what is the difference between an American and someone from Canada? And for most of us, we could not begin to distinguish the differences between the peoples of Asia, unless they happen to have snacks and Pokémon. But the Hebrew people were able to maintain some cultural heritage even while living in exile.
There are many factors to this. The largest is that God promised that a remnant would remain to the end. But there is something more. The Greek culture found them to be a curiosity. They were so different from the Greek people, and yet they held respect for them. They for centuries held this manner of thinking that had survived where so many other systems of thought disappeared beneath the sands of time. How many of us know who the gods of Nineveh are? The only reason we know of the Egyptian pantheon is because of the Rosetta Stone, and we know of Roman and Greek thought because they sort of merged into one. The Romans and the Greeks had similarities that just seem to fit well together, we often consider Greek and Roman mythology as the same thing with different names. But the people of Israel did not get swallowed by the surrounding culture. Its amazing if you think about it.
They were this curiosity, they presented a philosophy that was similar in part yet vastly different to that of the Greeks. Why did the Greeks allow them to persist? They were curious. They saw the ancient history, the long held ritualistic heritage, and the intense discipline, and the Greek thinkers invited them to the discussion. They did not necessarily agree, but they enjoyed the conversation. This is the whole idea of the university, that was championed by the Greek culture. The sharing of ideas, the debate among the details, and the liberty to make an informed decision. That is as much our heritage as anything else. That is the culture democracy and the republic was crafted upon.
But there was another idea in the mix also. One of dominance and power. The idea that might is right. This was also present in aspects of Greek culture, because there was many little city states, and at times different ones held the power. And for that time, the voice of the victor carried the most weight within the discussion. Philippi was a city in the Greek provinces, dominated by Rome yet still holding parts of that Greek culture. It is in this unique and slightly confusing place we find Paul today.
“If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more.”
Paul is pulling at the ideas of might is right. He is capitalizing on the Greek romance with ancient thinking as part of the debate, and he is at the same time teaching them the early theology of Christ.
“[C]ircumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews.” He is letting them know his story. He is of this ancient group that has had strict traditions that were ancient even to their contemporary era. He was circumcised in those customs. And he was of the tribe of Benjamin.
The mention of this tribe has always made me wonder. Why did it matter? Saul the first king of Israel was of the line of Benjamin. And Benjamin’s tribe, because of the grace David showed to Johnathan’s offspring, became the most zealous defenders of David’s Dynasty. Think for a moment about the various special operation forces we have in our defense department, the rangers, seals, marines. Each has their own specialty and skill. In Israel, they had Benjamin, the sole tribe that remained loyal to Judah even when all the others rebelled against them and divided the kingdom.
Paul is saying, I am part of that elite group. I am a member of the special force, the loyal tribe, the tribe that held the first royal line, and fierce defended the second royal family because David was gracious. But that heritage was not the only thing that was important. “As to the law,” Paul says, “a Pharisee”. This meets the Greek university thinkers. He is not merely someone with ancient roots, he has an education, he has learning. He can hold his own in a debate, and he brings with him the citations to prove his point.
“As to zeal,” he continues, “a persecutor of the church.” He was not only educated he was willing to defend his stance and take down anyone that opposed it. He was given a mandate to seek out and hunt those that participated and spread the teachings of the church, and he did it gladly. “As to righteousness under the law, blameless.” Again this reaches across the cultural barrier and confronts the teachings of not only the righteous among the people of Hebrew, but also to the Greek philosophers. The people of Israel were not the only people who sought to live ethical and moral lifestyles. Greek writers composed volumes on ethics. They created schools promoting stoicism, they created cults dedicated to the study of geometry and finding the fingerprints of God in the created order. Paul was blameless. He no matter which way you looked or which school of philosophical discipline you held, you could not look at Paul’s life and lifestyle and find fault.
Paul was a good man. He had every right to think of himself as good, and to top it all off he too was a citizen of Rome, just like them. “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. I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
Our English translations have softened Paul’s words at this point. Paul calls all the things that he has confidence in. All the things that the world has confidence in waste. It is literally manure, or fecal material left in the stable after the horses eat their daily oats.
Everything we hold as important is the same. What lasting value is the title of manager after I retire? It is great until that store goes bankrupt. As long as we have power our status remains relevant but the moment we lose power, we are just an irrelevant footnote in history. How many Pharoses are honored in Egypt? We know a few but they are not honored, they are paraded around for tourists to raise money, the once great living gods of the Nile, are nothing more than a street corner act. Their greatness is muck in the stalls of history. What about the kings of Europe? We only know of a couple, and are not all that impressed.
But who is remembered? We remember even after the sands of history the leaders and saints that did not regard status. When Christmas comes we sing of good king Wenceslas that went walking on the feast of Stephen. The funny thing about that is he was not even a king, but a duke. We remember him because he went out in the winter snows to make sure the people of his duchy had supplies. We remember with cheer the leaders, the ministers, the saints and ordinary people the took time for us. We remember the people that made sacrifices so that we could move forward.
Everything I have done, the degrees I obtained, the positions I held. No one really cares. Except for the people that where watching, or received some act of service. I have had several teachers from school, I only remember a few well. And it is not because they were easy, in fact they were some of the teachers I hated at the time. Mr. Boyd that always pushed me to do more. Mr. Douglas because he would never let me go one week without having to spell everything right. Mr. Ginther and his weird mannerisms yet passion for science. These teachers invested their life into mine.
Paul says everything I have done for my own benefit is manure, its waste sitting in the stable. It is chewed up, digested, and expelled. Except those things that brought him closer to Christ.
Why do we even know Paul? Is it because of his zeal for persecuting the church? Or his heritage? No we only know of him because he traveled the Roman Empire, planted churches, and wrote a bunch of letters? He sacrificed his reputation, his career, his very life for what? We know Stephen, we know James the brother of Jesus. We know Francis even outside of Catholic circles, why? They gave up all they had, and they invested it all into the lives of people for the sake of Christ.
Here Paul is, saying everything he has ever worked for is a stinking pile of rubbish, and we are reading one of his letters over a thousand years later.
What would drive a man like this, if he does not gain anything for himself? “That I may know him and the power of the resurrection, and may share his suffering, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection of from the dead.” He wants to know Christ.
He wants to know Christ because there is something about Jesus that crosses cultural barriers and challenges everything we thought we knew. If you were to sit down and read the words of Jesus’ teaching honestly, how many of us can say we meet the standard? Love your enemy? Do good to those that persecute you? Welcoming the stranger?
Paul tells this group of believers, this group of well-to-do, citizens of Rome, that he is just like them. And he knows none of that matters. Where we were born does not matter. Our political party does not matter. Our degree, our marital status, our career. It does not matter unless we devote it to Christ and use what is available to us to encourage those around us open up to the whispers of God’s Spirit in their lives. “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 staining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
To Paul, the only thing to strive toward is the thing that brought you to the feet of Christ. It is our weakness, our passions, our hopes, and our sorrows. Why do I stand here today? It is probably because I prayed at one time that God would give me the strength to speak once twenty-five years ago, when I had to stand before the class and give a speech. He met me in my weakness, and in him, I found the strength. Or it might be that I prayed once for comfort when my soul was crying out, why! The night twenty-nine years ago when my little sister was laying in a hospital be with machines keeping her alive. I remember that night praying for comfort and strength, I prayed for knowledge if she was going to have earthly healing or if she would go to his arms. And I felt comfort within my chest, knowing that she was with him and I did not need to fear.
I can list many stories, I could list people, and places. I can list many things, but still to this day I do not know why I am here. I can tell you why I should not be easier than why I should. And that is the point Paul is making. It is not about what I have done. Yes, I still strive to know God more deeply, but everything I do is like a blunder that somehow landed right side up. Do not think I am perfect, Paul says. Do not think for a moment that I have it all together. But if you do look at me, know this. I am seeking Christ and I will press on toward that with everything that I have because that is all that matters. Jesus saw Paul within the righteousness and zeal of Saul, and Jesus called that out. Jesus heard a voice in a boy that barely spoke a word, and now that voice speaks weakly, or weekly depending on the day. Press on to that prize, the prize of Christ, who did not believe that equality with God was something that could be taken or forced, but became obedient, submitting himself even unto death. He submitted so that we could rise with him. And he is calling out to each of us.
Where or in what are we putting our confidence in? And is it something you would like to step into?
Previous Messages:
Being of the Same Mind
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church September 27, 2026 Click Here to Join our Meeting for Worship Philippians 2:1–13 (ESV) 1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the…
Transformed in Grace
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church August 23, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 12:1–8 (ESV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which…
Trusting the Promise
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church August 16, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Romans 11:1–2a, 29–32 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the…
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