Philippians – Attaining, obtaining and pressing on
07/12/22 07:59
Devern Fromke once said at a family conference in Richmond, Virginia, that he had come to a stage in his life that he found that to be purpose driven was no longer satisfactory, in his walk with the Lord. To be purpose driven did not really work. What he found to be more fruitful was to be person centred. And that person was, of course, the Lord Jesus. This seems to be in line with Paul’s testimony and admonitions in his letter to the Philippians. At first glance he seems to be purpose driven. We hear him speak in terms of pressing on towards the goal, straining forward, ‘that I may attain …’ It is the resurrection what he has in mind, but not as a thing or an event. It is in the first place to know the Lord Jesus. This is important to notice.
I struggle with those terms Paul uses, obtaining and attaining. When I look at my own life I do not seem to obtain anything or to have attained to a certain level of spiritual maturity. This is, of course, for others to judge, or rather for the Lord Himself. Maybe I forget to forget what lies behind? In order to ‘hold true to what we have attained’ (3:16) we need a strong foundation on which to build the next level. And the thing is that the foundations I had, as far as teachings are concerned, have turned out to be unstable. Over the last ten years I have had to repudiate quite a great deal of my ‘structure’ and more or less start all over again. At least, that is how I have experienced this proces. I must add that these teachings do not have such a bad effect on everybody as it has had on me, but the point is that they are not based on sound contextual exegesis, but on ideas backed up with a collection of Bible verses. So when these Bible verses are interpreted within their context the whole structure of these teachings collapses. And those believers who trust in them may collaps as well when they come to understand the passages concerned.
I believe that one of the reasons why God has given us the New Testament (the gospels, Acts, the letters and Revelation) is to help us avoid confusion and develop a sound understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. Because there is such a jungle of Christian thought it is important to be rooted and grounded in the basics of the New Testament. Of course, over the years we grow in insight and we change our views and interpretations here and there, but that does not need to be so thoroughly fundamental as some of us have experienced and are still experiencing. The good thing is that when we can settle down in sound Biblical teaching we will not be ‘tossed to and fro’ so easily and we develop an ability to ‘handle’ error with love, wisdom and patience. Following Jesus makes us humble. This brings us back to Paul’s letter to the Philippians and its Christ-centredness.
I struggle with those terms Paul uses, obtaining and attaining. When I look at my own life I do not seem to obtain anything or to have attained to a certain level of spiritual maturity. This is, of course, for others to judge, or rather for the Lord Himself. Maybe I forget to forget what lies behind? In order to ‘hold true to what we have attained’ (3:16) we need a strong foundation on which to build the next level. And the thing is that the foundations I had, as far as teachings are concerned, have turned out to be unstable. Over the last ten years I have had to repudiate quite a great deal of my ‘structure’ and more or less start all over again. At least, that is how I have experienced this proces. I must add that these teachings do not have such a bad effect on everybody as it has had on me, but the point is that they are not based on sound contextual exegesis, but on ideas backed up with a collection of Bible verses. So when these Bible verses are interpreted within their context the whole structure of these teachings collapses. And those believers who trust in them may collaps as well when they come to understand the passages concerned.
I believe that one of the reasons why God has given us the New Testament (the gospels, Acts, the letters and Revelation) is to help us avoid confusion and develop a sound understanding of what it means to follow Jesus. Because there is such a jungle of Christian thought it is important to be rooted and grounded in the basics of the New Testament. Of course, over the years we grow in insight and we change our views and interpretations here and there, but that does not need to be so thoroughly fundamental as some of us have experienced and are still experiencing. The good thing is that when we can settle down in sound Biblical teaching we will not be ‘tossed to and fro’ so easily and we develop an ability to ‘handle’ error with love, wisdom and patience. Following Jesus makes us humble. This brings us back to Paul’s letter to the Philippians and its Christ-centredness.
