What are you chasing? What kind of race are you running right now? We oftentimes refer to life as a rat-race, as though we are racing against other rats in a maze full of twists and turns.
While I’m not certain that it’s really all that appropriate to refer to one another as “rats” it does seem like life is full of twists and turns, difficult times, trying seasons and even suffering. If you don’t pay attention, suffering can cause you to come unglued, to lose focus and to stall out in this race.
If you’ve ever watched a race of any kind (NASCAR, cross-country, track, the 400-yard dash, sprint cars) then you know that what matters in any race are things like traction, the finish line and the gas you have in your tank. If you think about it, you’re not even running a race if you don’t have any traction and if you don’t have a finish line and if you don’t have any gas in your tank. You’re either spinning your wheels or racing around aimlessly or stuck on the side of the road.
When we talk about traction, we are talking about getting your wheels or your shoes to get a hold on the track, so the track holds you steady. When we talk about the finish line, we are talking about keeping the end of the race in mind so that you don’t veer off course and start heading in the wrong direction. When we talk about gas in the tank, we are talking about the kind of endurance and speed that are dictated by the fuel you put in your tank so you don’t wind up stuck, broke down or stalled out on the side of the road.
This is exactly what the apostle Paul doesn’t want for the Philippian believers. Paul wants the Philippians to live their lives in a manner that is worthy of the gospel as citizens of Heaven (Phil. 1:27). This “worthy-of-the-gospel” kind of life is going to require the Philippians to navigate the twists and the turns and the ups and the downs and the difficulties and the suffering of this life with steady resolve and intense focus and continued progress.
Let’s face it, suffering has a unique way of either throwing us off track or distracting us from the most important goal or slowing us down. But suffering, in the hands of our sovereign Father who is good and kind and patient and purposeful, can also produce a kind of “worthy-of-the-gospel” godliness that the joys of this life can never produce. Suffering for Christ is like a sacred racetrack that produces a deeper knowledge of Christ and a deeper fellowship with Christ.2 Suffering causes us to chase something. What are you chasing? What was the apostle Paul chasing in our text today?
PHILIPPIANS 3:12 – 16…
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. 15 Let those of you who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
#1: CHASING JESUS (V. 12)
At the end of the day, we chase the things that have a hold on us, things that have a grip on us, things that capture us. This is why the apostle Paul says that he hasn’t crossed the finish line yet; he’s still on the track chasing Jesus because as he says, it’s “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. The apostle Paul is chasing Jesus because Jesus had chased him down and because Jesus had a superglued-grace-grip on Paul’s life.
Paul’s quest to know Christ fully was matched by his humility; he was not yet perfected; he hadn’t arrived at perfection. Perfection in this life is promised by the twisted theology of prosperity preachers and legalists who rely on human performance to produce godliness. But the truth is that the more we come to know Jesus, the more we will come to know our need to grow. You see, spiritual dissatisfaction is a really blessed state to be in because it means that we need to keep chasing Jesus.3
Paul is saying that he chases perfection, if indeed he may seize perfection, because he had indeed been seized by Christ who is the essence of perfection. Paul’s pursuit and obtain language (chase and seize language) points us back to the Damascus road where Christ pursued/chased and obtained/seized Paul as his own possession. Paul wants to know Christ because he is in the grip of Christ’s grace; his whole pursuit of Christ was originated, motivated and propelled by Christ. The gospel allows no room for a bland, middle-class, middle-of-the-road ethic that strives to be neither hot nor cold.4
So, what are you chasing? If we are wired to chase the things that have a hold on us, have a grip on us and capture us, then what are you chasing? What has a hold on you? What has a grip on you? What has captured you? Do you have the traction you need to run this “worthy-of-the-gospel” life well? Or are you just spinning your wheels? The apostle Paul was chasing Jesus. Who or what are you chasing?
#2: CHASING HEAVEN (V. 13 – 14)
Every one of us is chasing a finish line. Somewhere deep down inside, subconsciously or consciously, we are chasing an end game, a goal, a vision of what we believe will fulfill our deepest desires. The apostle Paul was chasing heaven. This is why he says, “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, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. The finish line that the apostle Paul was chasing was the finish line of heaven.
Paul’s pursuit of Heaven was a focused and intense pursuit.5 Paul knew that looking backward would cause a loss of intense focus on the goal in front of him.6 Paul also knew that the vision of the end of the race – the finish line – is what gives us direction, endurance and speed.7
When Paul says that “I do not consider that I have made it my own” he’s saying that he hasn’t arrived yet. Despite all of his accomplishments in this life (that he viewed as filthy rags and a pile of dung) he knew that he hadn’t attained perfection yet because he wasn’t in heaven yet. This is why the apostle Paul kept chasing heaven.
When Paul says that “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead” he’s saying that he isn’t spending his life looking in the rearview mirror. Any moment looking in the rearview mirror would take his eyes off the prize of the “upward call of God in Christ Jesus” meaning that the rearview mirror is a mere distraction from the finish line of heaven. Paul was chasing heaven because no earthly finish-line could compare with the beauty and perfection of eternity with Christ Jesus.
What are you chasing? What’s the finish line for you? What’s the end game, the goal of your life, the vision that drives you, the deepest desire you have? What finish line do you have in mind? Are you just wandering around aimlessly touting your accomplishments or failures of the past; focusing on the aimlessness of your performance? The apostle Paul was chasing the finish line of heaven. What are you chasing after?
#3: CHASING MATURITY (V. 15 – 16)
Getting stuck in the mud is no fun. Getting stuck on the side of the road in a broken vehicle is even less fun. Running out of gas is a pain. The reality in life is that we can easily get stuck in the mud, experience a major breakdown and sometimes we run out of gas. This typically happens because we either overestimate our ability or underestimate the cost of the journey.
The apostle Paul was neither overestimating his ability nor underestimating the cost of being a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is why he said, “Let those of you who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. The apostle Paul is simply letting the Philippian believers know that he is still chasing maturity after thirty years of chasing Jesus and chasing heaven.
Mature people keep advancing in the pursuit of being transformed in their relationship with Jesus; they don’t ease up because they fail or succeed; they press on and continue to make progress.8 The apostle Paul died as a man who ran for and ran after Christ; he chased Christ for the glory of Christ; may we all die chasing after Christ for the glory of Christ.9
What are you chasing? Is it possible that what you are chasing is actually something that is causing you to get stuck, break down or run out of gas? Do you have any endurance? Are you making any progress? Are you stalled out in your journey? The gas in Paul’s tank was an intense pursuit of Jesus with a clear vision of the finish line of heaven joined with a focused commitment to chasing maturity. What are you chasing?
CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION…
Why is all of this important? It’s important because life is like a race that is full of twists and turns and ups and downs and difficulty and suffering. On this racetrack that we call life, we can either lose our traction and get stuck in the ditch of legalism and licentiousness; or we can lose our vision for the finish line and wind up running around in circles aimlessly boasting of our accomplishments or despairing our failures; or we can run out of gas and be left stalled out, broken down and stuck in a rut.
What are you chasing? What has a grip on you? What is the finish line for you? What causes you to get stuck? Whatever your answers to those questions, the absolutely great news that we get to hear every time we open the Bible is that Jesus ran this race for us. Jesus never lost traction. Jesus kept his eye on the finish line. Jesus ran this race with a tank that overflowed with the fuel of the power of the Spirit.
When you think about what it means to live a life that is worthy of the gospel as a citizen of heaven (Phil. 1:27), you have to remember the cross, the empty tomb and the promise of Heaven. Because of the bloody cross, you and I, if we’ve trusted in Christ, have been chased down and seized by the grace grip of a Savior who never lets us go.
Because of the empty tomb, we know that nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus; therefore, the hope of heaven is our finish line. Finally, because we have the hope of heaven as our finish line, then we can chase the ever-deepening need for growth in spiritual maturity until we step across the finish line into the presence of absolute perfection.
So, what has a grip on you? What is the finish line for you? What causes you to get stuck? What are you chasing?
Submit your life to the foot of the bloody cross where Jesus hung and died to pay the price and to take away your sin.
Spend time in the doorway of the empty tomb where Jesus rose from the grave and gave you the victory over Satan, sin and death.
Hold fast to the hope of the promise of Heaven and you’ll run this race with traction, vision and fuel to face anything that comes against you in this life and you’ll live a life that is worthy of the gospel as a citizen of heaven. – Amen!
1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).
2 R. Kent Hughes, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon: The Fellowship of the Gospel and the Supremacy of Christ (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, ESV Edition, 2013), 147.
3 Ibid., 148.
4 Ibid., 149.
5 Ibid., 150.
6 Ibid., 151.
7 Ibid., 152.
8 Ibid., 153.
9 Ibid., 154.