Tally No

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

It is part and parcel of waking up each morning to consider what you will do this day, what took place the day before, and what you hope to accomplish. With an accumulation of days comes ever greater expectation and accounting, to the extent that one day you realize you have a decent set of credentials.

Credentials are one of those necessary aspects of life that separate us one from another. They allow you to gain access into areas of expertise no one else may have. For some people the credentials are significant. For example, not just anyone has keys to the White House. Not just anyone has the password to your tech gadgets, either.

For the Apostle Paul it was necessary to spell out his qualifications when it came to being active in and around the Church, both before and after he persecuted it, but chiefly before. From the perspective of outward appearance, the Apostle Paul was as righteous as it gets. He was upwardly mobile in circles of those who made it their life’s aim to apply themselves to the biblical texts not only for themselves, but also so that they might teach others.

What things are of gain to you? By now you have accumulated a decent set of credentials. You’ve got some years under your belt. You are able to loosen and tighten your belt. You may even be of age to have a belt before bed. What about all that stuff? All that experience?

As surely as you now are buried with Christ Jesus in Holy Baptism and partake of His life under the cross, all that stuff is becoming less and less significant. You have the Apostle Paul as an example, whose own life of righteousness he counted as loss. He calls it “whatever things.” It’s baggage. “Our righteousness is as filthy rags.” You know this according to the spirit, but your flesh would have you constantly take stock of who you are and what you have, so that you become great and your dear LORD Jesus becomes small.

So here we have a rejoinder and an example inviting us to do the very opposite of tallying up all we have, whether it is credentials or stuff. These are all fading away. To have Christ Jesus crucified and risen, joined to you in the flesh, means more than all your credentials and stuff combined. You count these as loss for the sake of Christ Jesus; not for show, or because He somehow needs them, but because you know that in being joined to Him, having the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, is worth more than anything your own flesh or the world has to offer.

Remember, the Apostle Paul was grabbed by the scruff of the neck in the very midst of persecuting the Church. It is really no different for you. While you were yet an enemy of God, He took it upon Himself to redeem you in Christ Jesus, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood, and with His innocent suffering and death.