“All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

“Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.  For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.  Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.  But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”

Philippians 3:15-21

Paul begins Philippians 3 by instructing the believers to “Rejoice in the Lord” and then warning them to watch out for those who boast in the flesh, or in other words, those who look at things from an earthly, carnal perspective. Paul then says that if a person were to take confidence in fleshly, earthly attainments, he might be at the top of the list (Paul makes his list of attainments), then says that all that supposed attainment is as dung to him. (See my post, “What About Earthly Power?”).

So, what is the “view of things” which Paul is referring to in the above verses? In verses 12-14, Paul describes it:

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

In other words, Paul is describing both our intention/motivation and the intensity/passion with which we follow Jesus’ purpose and Kingdom principles.

We are to:

• Think like mature Christians who long for the meat of the word, not the milk, not like babies (See Hebrews 5:12-14 for a good definition of Christian maturity) vs 15
• Keep changing/repenting:  vs 15, “And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.”
• Not lose ground in our growth: vs 16, “Only let us live up to what we have already attained.”
• Follow Paul and Jesus as model’s for our lives and behavior: vs 17, “…just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.” Keeping in mind that Paul wrote this letter while he was in prison for following Christ.
• Do not be like some Christians who live as if they are enemies of Christ: vs 19, “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”

A “But” to Contrast

So, basically, the contrast Paul is making here is that some people live like their important citizenship is on Earth, while others (those who are like Paul and mature Christians) live like their citizenship is in heaven. What does this mean actually?

Paul says that we eagerly await a Savior. The eagerness has to do with our level of intensity or passion, which is not a “feeling” of passion, but rather, a passionate intentionality and focus. Often, brand new Christians have an eagerness based on emotion about Jesus and their new faith. This is not what this means. That feeling of initial joy is not the same as the deep seated joy which flows from a mature intensity of focus on living out the Kingdom values with Jesus as your leader. Paul states all his hardships and still had that kind of joy. Chapter 3 of Philippians itself starts with telling the reader to “Rejoice in the Lord” so joy is definitely an important outflow of knowing that you are forgiven, redeemed, and made new. But even that joy is not just a feeling, otherwise, Paul could not admonish you to rejoice. In other words, there is more to this than how you feel; there is your intention and your focus. You do it because you want to; it is your life, and your daily choice.

How is your citizenship?

One definition of citizenship is “participatory membership in a community.” How that fits in with this verse are the three words that define different aspects of citizenship: participate, membership, community. As a Christ-follower, you are the one who must participate in your life of following Jesus. It is not your parents, grandparents, pastor, teachers, or spouse who will define your participation. Only you and your continual choice to do it. It is not a one-off deal. (Sign up to be a Christian and you never have to do another thing.) You are called to be “part” of what God has in mind to do for you, for others, and for Him.

You are a part or member of Christ’s church. In 1 Corinthians 12:12 Paul writes, “ For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” Our membership is not just a list of people who are going to heaven when they die: we are each part (members, Gr μέλη (melē)) of Christ’s body acting out His wishes on this planet. This is our membership and we are His feet, His hands, His eyes, His mouth, to the people here on Earth. We have membership in His purposes.

Also, the word “Community.” Not just are we members of Christ’s body on the Earth to do His work, we are also members of each other. We are part of His church, His people all together as Christ-followers. Doing His work together in each specific and Christ-directed way, empowered today by the Holy Spirit and doing the will of the Father. We take care of each other and when one hurts, all hurt. This too is part of what it means to be a citizen and have citizenship in heaven. First Corinthians 12:26 puts this nicely: “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”

When we are admonished that our citizenship is in heaven, we must take this very seriously, since it has to do with whether or not we are fooling ourselves about our relationship with Christ and whether or not we are even walking in a manner worthy of Him. As was stated in the very first verses above (Phil 3:18-19), Paul says that some who think they are following Christ are “as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.” What earthly things? Those that contrast with having a citizenship in heaven.

A beautiful part of these verses in Philippians 3 are those that show how Paul tells us we are not to give up or be discouraged about this. If we find that we ourselves are not truly placing our citizenship in heaven and have been distracted in our focus off of God’s purposes and onto our own earthly purposes, we have the same solution that Paul used. We can “press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me….But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Pressing on, straining, moving toward the goal he was called for: all of this has to do with the forward momentum of a soul who is willing to lay down what lies behind and move forward to follow the call of Christ to live out this life in His power, pressing on toward this every day with all of their being.