“If you haven’t been paying attention to anything I’ve been saying, make sure you hear this…”
“Above all else, remember to…”
“In the end, what’s most important is…”
Phrases such as these tend to grab our attention. It’s hard to zone out when someone places such a heavy emphasis on what they are about to say. These phrases are seen in Scripture as well: “Above all else…” (Proverbs 4:23), “I determined to know nothing among you except…” (1 Corinthians 2:2), “One thing is necessary…” (Luke 10:42), and “Whatever you do…” (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17, 23).
Philippians 3 contains one such instance as well. The chapter begins with Paul recounting his resume, which is packed with distinctions and accomplishments. He then proceeds to tell of the worthlessness of all his prior merits in the presence of “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus [his] Lord” (3:8). The first half of the chapter ends with him aspiring towards Christ’s righteousness and resurrection from the dead—gifts that were ascribed to him (and all other Christians) upon conversion. Yet in the temporal sense, he recognizes that he’s not yet perfected and resurrected, which bring us to his emphatic statement in verse 13:
“But one thing I do…”
That ought to grab our attention! In the context of discussing Christ’s righteousness (the opposite of our sin plight) and His resurrection (the opposite of our suffering plight), he singles out one thing that he does. As it is, this “one thing” is actually split into two actions:
1) Forget What Lies Behind
This doesn’t mean we are to pretend like the past didn’t happen or try to misremember everything before the present. We know that can’t be what Paul meant because he listed his “resume” just seven verses ago! Instead, God’s Word is calling us away from our tendency to inordinately fixate on the past—a point exemplified when Paul scrubbed the distinctions and accomplishments he’d previously founded his identity upon. But our temptation to look over our shoulder when our hand is on the plow (c.f., Luke 9:62) often takes two forms, the first being…
Pride
This is our common tendency to continually ruminate on all the “good” things we’ve done in our past. We can boast in our own resume, place our stock in family or ethnic roots (as Paul formerly practiced), or reminisce about the “good old days.” Soon, we cave in on ourselves which greatly diminishes our service towards God’s Kingdom. Benjamin Franklin summed up the issue well: “a man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.” Fixating on the pride of the past shrinks our world to microscopic proportions.
But not everyone gets lost in the labyrinth of the past out of fondness—some wind up lost in the malaise of…
Shame
We can do things, and things can be done to us, that can fester if they’re continually resurfaced, like a scab that you won’t stop picking and picking. Jesus didn’t just save Paul from his Pharisaical ways (thinking he was better than everyone else)—he also saved Him from the awful things he’d done. Imagine how ineffective Paul would have been if he allowed his history of intense persecution of the church to dominate his ministry. What did he need to do? He needed to forget what lay behind!
Much like the person caught up in the pride of the past, the web of shame contains many sticky strands that entrap those who wander into its grasp. Shame is the exhaust that evil emits, and evil typically comes in two forms: sin and suffering. French theologian Henri Blocher differentiates between the two aptly when he says, “two aspects of evil may be distinguished: evil endured, or misfortune [i.e., suffering]; and evil committed, or malice [i.e., sin]…” (Blocher, Evil and the Cross, 11 (emphasis added)).
Thus, focusing on the shame of the past can typically be reduced to two culprits: (1) poorly processed sin, and (2) poorly processed suffering. There is a season when a man or woman is appropriately impacted by either, but this effect should lead to the God-ordained methods for addressing sin and suffering. Sin (evil committed) must lead to confession and repentance (1 John 1:8-9). Suffering (evil endured) must lead to Psalm-like prayer and intimacy with Christ (Matthew 26:39; Matthew 11:28-30).
Whether pride or shame is driving the temptation to remain in the past, every Christian is called to “forget what lies behind.” But there is still the second portion of Paul’s emphatic command that must be addressed…
2) Strain Forward to What Lies Ahead
Christianity is a forward-looking religion. For instance, Revelation (which contains end-times prophesies) is the only book that states, “blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy…” (Revelation 1:3a). Jesus pointed people to “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). Most of the authors of the epistles in the New Testament point us to the life in the world to come. Here in Philippians, Paul says he is “straining forward to what lies ahead, [pressing] on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13b-14).
Why? Simply put, this life is just a vapor (c.f., James 4:14). Elsewhere, Paul says “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). When we’re laser-focused on Christ’s eternal kingdom, the present comes into a clearer focus, though the opposite is often espoused. I hope you are convinced that the complete inverse is true of this worthless axiom: “don’t be so heavenly focused that you are of no earthly value…” It’s those who “strain forward to what lies ahead” that have the greatest impact on earth—look no further than the example we have in Christ.
Reflection
Ironically, I want you to take some time to consider your own typical thought pattern. How much do you dwell on the past? Would it even be accurate to say that you dwell in the past? You could go there for relatively innocuous reasons, like remembering when your children were still living in the house, or recalling that great vacation you took back in 2019. We can look back and thank God for His blessings or even use difficult circumstances to learn and grow. Not all recollection is forbidden. But if you abide in those otherwise harmless memories, God calls us to break the lease and find the better home (c.f., 2 Corinthians 5:1-10).
Perhaps you’re caught up in the pride of the past. One sign of living here is the content of your conversation. Inevitably what we are thinking about bubbles up to the surface—do you wind up talking about your previous accolades? Stories where you’re the hero? Bragging about people you’ve met, places you’ve been, or sharing the same stories over and over? A focus on Christ will obliterate pride and allow you to love those He’s placed in front of you, today!
Or maybe you’re stuck in the web of yesterday’s shame. You have unconfessed sin or unaddressed suffering. Ruminating on these matters often masks itself as productive. When dealing with sin, we tend to (even passively) conclude, “if I just think about it from the right angle, I can justify my actions…” Christ calls us to confess and repent. And with suffering, we can even convince ourselves that if we play it over in our head enough times, we can bring about an iota of change regarding what has already transpired. It sounds ridiculous when the logic is brought to light, but it’s no more preposterous than living in the suffering of the past! There is hope, but it’s not found “back there…”
Lastly, (if you’re a Christian) how often do you think about heaven? Taking an honest inventory of any given day: how many hours, minutes, or seconds are the eyes of your heart gazing at eternity? It’s so easy to assent to platitudes such as “I ought to think about God’s Kingdom more,” but agreement is not where the battle is waging. It’s fought in the crucible of time! Hear the drum beat of spiritual warfare, matched with the ticking of the clock. The echo of those seconds that have transpired remind us that those moments are lost, so forget what lies behind! Strain forward to what lies ahead, as we “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
Photo by Mizanur Rahman on Unsplash