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Straight for the Goal "My brothers, I do not consider myself to have fully grasped it even now. But I do concentrate on this: I leave the past behind and with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead I go straight for the goal—my reward the honour of being called by God in Christ." (Phil.3:13,14 Phillips) Paul in this part of his letter to the brethren at Philippi is using the Isthmian games as an illustration of the Christian life. Paul was wholehearted in everything he did. He put his whole mind and body into the persecution of the Church. When he became a follower of Jesus Christ, he embraced the new faith with all his heart, just like an athlete in the games. For him, anything less than his best was useless. The Laodicean Church was condemned because its members were neither hot nor cold in their attitude in following Jesus. The task given to Paul could never have been done better than he did it. Jesus called him to a wonderful work that brought out the highest qualities. It also brought unparalleled suffering, but he counted it a privilege and knew that his reward was secure in Heaven. His speeches recorded in the Acts of the Apostles together with his letters to the Churches show that he had remarkable intellectual ability. In spite of physical limitations he accomplished so much while under severe stress, for the sake of Christ. He took a major part in interpreting and explaining the life and work of Christ and their relation to the Old Testament. In God’s providence he was foremost in planning the spread of the Gospel and he personally pioneered much of it. He preached Christ, and based his message upon Moses and the prophets. His training and education prepared him for the immense task and he was utterly faithful in doing it. Paul was born in Tarsus in Cilicia, beneath the shadow of the Taurus mountains. From there he saw the Greek ships sail in and out of a busy harbour. He saw the grandeur of creation as storks flew across the Mediterranean. He could turn and look inland to see high hills and the floppy eared goats grazing on them. He saw the values of Roman rule and grasped the understanding of Greek philosophy. He saw the value in the twin cultures of the empire into which he had been born. This is shown in his words and actions yet he neither glorified nor was he ashamed of them. The boundaries of men’s rule were like the boundaries of land and ocean to Paul, established by Almighty God and he respected them whatever his feelings about them. Paul was born a Jew, but also a Roman citizen. Of the tribe of Benjamin, he may have been called after Saul, Israel’s first king, who also was of that tribe. There is evidence that he came from a fairly wealthy family who may have disinherited him when he became a disciple of Jesus. Yet he retained the connection with his sister in Jerusalem. It has been suggested that he had been married and was a member of the Sanhedrin but the Scriptures do not give us much help in that respect. He certainly had a good education beyond the average boy of his time. After early training in home and synagogue he was despatched to Jerusalem to discover the finer points of Mosaic Law. At the feet of the liberally minded Gamaliel this earnest, perhaps narrow‑minded young man, was able to learn from the finest Jewish scholars. This gave him the background that he was to need in later life and through the power of the Holy Spirit he pursued his work for Christ in fullest measure. He alone was able to see the moral consequences of such a teaching and he laid the foundations of new concepts of the Kingdom of God which none of the earlier leaders of the church had done. Yet Paul was no fanatical revolutionary in society and he saw the need for obedience to authority. Cultural change came slowly. All this the apostle did in his short thirty years of ministry and he could only have done it by complete dedication to Jesus’ calling on the Damascus road. It was no idle boast that he was able to say, "I have fought a good fight;" (2 Tim.4:7) it was the sober truth, he had fought ruthlessly. He had fought against evil and sin, against selfishness and conceit, against narrow‑minded bigotry of the Jews and the total permissiveness of the Gentiles. The battle had been within his own life not against his fellow men, and certainly not against his brothers and sisters in Christ. It was by example that he showed others the way. He had run the race without deviation and according to the rules. He had stripped off everything and not allowed the closely fitting ‘sin’ to hinder his progress but had kept his eye upon Jesus and awaited with joy that moment when the veil would be drawn aside and he would see his Master face to face. Paul shows none of the repugnance common among Jews towards the Grecian games. He had sufficient knowledge of them to use them in illustrating the Christian walk. He must have seen the runners moving as if their very lives depended on winning. But his was not a competition as if there were so many places to be filled and they must do all they could to beat the next person. The illustration was intended to teach the giving of all we have got to take the prize which Paul describes in Phil.3:8 as winning Christ–and that prize was beginning to he realised now–"knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord." (Phillips) In writing to Timothy (2 Tim.2:3‑6) Paul teaches the same kind of lesson in three illustrations. The first is that of a soldier, who endures hardness and does not become involved in the normal interests of civilian life. This was highlighted following two world wars when soldiers were totally absorbed in winning a war and found it hard to return to normal life after several years in a foreign country. Resuming the responsibilities they left behind was very difficult for some. The lesson for the child of God is similar to that shown in Jesus’ parable of the Sower and the soil which was full of weeds that deprived the plants of the real crop of water and air. So many things, taken for granted by ordinary people, that seem harmless in themselves, distract attention from life with Christ. Paul then uses again the illustration of the athlete in a race. Here there is emphasis on keeping the rules and the lesson lies in discipline. A Christian must be self‑disciplined, able to do what is right even when by nature he would rather do something else, particularly with the pressures of contemporary society and ‘keeping up with the neighbours.’ Discipline speaks of pattern and purpose in life and this is that which only Christ can give. In the Christian life there is no place for the chaos and the aimless ‘getting and doing’ that afflicts human life today. Thirdly, Paul draws a rural scene in which a farmer only obtains the best rewards when he works really hard with no let up for frivolous things. A Christian must be diligent to the point of allowing nothing into his life that will not contribute to his life in Christ. Paul refers to boxing at the games, not in the sense of attacking someone else but again in the matter of self‑discipline. Pummelling himself was not shadow boxing. (1 Cor.9:26). He writes as if he were two persons, as he does in Rom.7:14‑20. Paul the apostle is attacking Saul the Jewish teacher who could not keep the Law. The old nature has to be punched until it knows that it is completely beaten. Too often, through the history of the Church even until this present day, Christians have imagined that their opponents are fellow Christians who hold different interpretations of Scripture from their own. This is not so. A. B. Simpson’s words remain true— There is a foe whose hidden power This was the fight that Paul took seriously and in which he ultimately triumphed. The whole of this passage speaks of Paul being totally absorbed in his life with Christ. Anyone who has truly been in love with a spouse will know what Paul felt. Yet this is not a withdrawal from the world that offers only a monastic way of life. Christ was actively interested in the world and in the people around Him but always, without exception, his interest was concerned with God’s will and kingdom. Hence His words, "Strive first for the Kingdom of God and his righteousness." (Matt.6:33 NRSV). A job of work, a career or even one’s own business can be a contributor in our lives to the Kingdom of God. But they can be a distraction which destroys spiritual life. The same applies to our relaxation and pastimes. It can also apply to Christian service and some forms of Bible study. They can all divert attention from Christ himself for none of these things can transform our lives. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can do that. However great the self‑denial and suffering endured by a Christian, it is but light affliction for the eternal weight of glory. That glory will be the shining with a character like that of Christ to a world that has known nothing of His beauty. Now is the time when that character is being formed in us. Is that the absorbing interest of our lives? Are we going straight for the goal? DN |
