Philippians 1:28 - Don't get spooked

"...and not being spooked in no way by the [ones] opposing, which is to them proof of destruction, but of your salvation, and this from God."

-so, those who follow Jesus and are living out an obsession with Him by standing together and striving together for the faith of the Good News about Him should also not be at all afraid when they encounter opposition to this faith, to the spread of this faith, much less resistance to the very existence of the Empire of Heaven itself.  there is in fact an ancient enemy waging a long war against God - millenia ago he rebelled and was kicked out of heaven down to earth (isaiah 14.12, luke 10.18), whence he has endeavored to establish a dominion of darkness and direct it in a losing battle against the kingdom of light and against the God Who made him (cf daniel 10.8-13, 10.18-21, john 12.31, colossians 1.13, ephesians 6.12).  we are told that he wants to steal, kill, and destroy (john 10.10).  he has blinded the eyes of billions who he is holding captive to do what he wants (ephesians 2.2, acts 26.18, 2timothy 2.26).  he is a clever deceiver and a pathological liar who is bent on tempting people into joining in his rebellion against God (john 8.44, 2john 7, revelation 12.9, cf genesis 3.1-5, matthew 4.1).  he raises up arguments and opposition against the knowledge of God (2corinthians 10.5) and tries to accuse believers and discourage them from devotion to the Lord (cf job 1.6-12, zechariah 3.1, luke 22.31, 1timothy 3.6-7, revelation 12.10).  he wants to scare them into timidity and devour them (1peter 5.8).  there will even be a short time when he will be given temporary authority to wage war against God’s people (revelation 12.12, revelation 13.5-7).  thus there is the incomparable significance of the Good News which Jesus and those who follow Him bring to the world (luke 4.18, luke 5.10, matthew 4.18), and also the need for God’s people to stand together and resist the temptation to give in to fear and run away (ecclesiastes 4.12, ephesians 6.11, 6.13, james 4.7, 1peter 5.9).  truly, greater is He Who is in you than he who is in the world (job 1.11-12, 2corinthians 10.4, 1john 4.4, 2timothy 1.7, romans 8.31), because those who trust in Jesus are in fact overcomers.  they are destined for victory! (romans 12.21, 1john 2.14, 5.4-5, revelation 2.7, 2.11, 3.5, 12.11)

-the word paul uses for spooked is pturo, and is only found here in the NT.  it describes the terror experienced by a startled horse.  

(observations from a lifelong horse lover:
    -you never really know what will/might spook a horse (i.e. they spook easily)
    -their reaction when spooked might be to run, jump, or even plant their feet.  they might then turn to face the object with eyes bulging and nostrils flaring
    -TRUST IN THE RIDER HELPS REDUCE SPOOKING!!! (“when i first got annie she would not EVER walk over water. after a while she went anywhere i asked her to”)
    -desensitizing/exposing to many different stimuli helps reduce spooking

a spooked horse will run, or will perhaps fight and rear and kick if it cannot run, but to be sure, it is a flight animal.  they instinctively sense danger and avoid it.  when spooked a horse is unmanageable, and even dangerous to be around - it is definitely unable to serve its master while in that spooked state.  similarly, the instinctive response of believers who encounter opposition while sharing their faith and even just while following Jesus can be to run away, and in that state they of course will not be useful to the Master.  no doubt the opposition faced by those who followed Christ in philippi could have been deadly, as it would still be in many places around the world today.  it would of course be natural for someone to try and avoid a situation which could cost them their life.  even in contemporary western society, where opposition is not likely to be deadly, the temptation is to shrink back from declaring the truth of the Gospel and from standing for Jesus.  paul says don’t do it.  don’t shrink back.  don’t be spooked by those who oppose your attempts to follow Jesus or to tell others about Him.  don’t run away from opportunities to help others learn about Jesus.  AND trust your Rider!  if Jesus is your Rider, give Him the reins - give Him free rein.  He really is in control, He knows what He is doing, He will supply whatever strength is needed to get through it all, and He is working it all for good.

-now, paul gives another reason why God’s people should not be spooked.  he says that the reality of opposition is proof positive (from God Himself) of two things - it is proof that those who are being opposed in following Jesus have definitely been saved, and it is proof that those who are doing the opposing are definitely heading for destruction.  in other words, for those who are living out an obsession with Jesus and spreading the Message of the Empire-Kingdom of Heaven, when they encounter opposition, they can rest assured that they are on the right team - the winning team, and the ones who are standing in opposition to believers - persecuting them, hindering the spread of the Message, etc - they are most assuredly on the wrong team, the one which will ultimately lose.

Philippians 1:27 - Part of a team

"Only worthily be living as citizens of the Good News of Christ, in order that whether having come and having seen you or being away I may be hearing the [things] about you, that you all are standing firm in one spirit, in one soul competing together the faith of the Good News..."

-paul here gives his first imperative.  having just shared his big, overarching purpose and goal in life, this command flows naturally out of that, out of this logical obsession with Jesus and full out commitment to help bring the Good News about Him to bear on the lives of others.

-several word pictures here.  the first is politueo, which is the verb form of polités, which is a person who is a citizen of a polis, or city.  politeuo then relates to the life that is lived by a citizen of a certain city.  citizenship in paul’s day was a big deal, esp. to be a citizen of rome.  it carried with it significant rights and privileges and protections.  it was something to be proud of.  it was something to aspire to.  it was something to inform and color how you would live and behave and carry yourself.  it was more than likely your lead foot, your primary identity.  despite being located in macedonia, philippi happened to be a roman colony, and the people who lived there took pride in the fact that they were full-fledged citizens of rome, the great city which gave its name to the empire over which it ruled.  being a citizen of rome was not just an identity to be lived out by individuals in isolation.  roman colonies were to be reproductions of the parent commonwealth (albeit on a smaller scale).  with this in mind, paul has in mind that these believers are citizens of an even better city, with even better rights and privileges and also with an even higher standard of behavior.  he is exhorting this Christian assembly on how to conduct itself collectively as a colony of the Gospel empire, the one ruled from Heaven by the Lord Himself.

-he is talking about living a life that is worthy of such citizens.  one which is representative, good enough - living and behaving in a way which measures up to the expectations and standards of such a place.  and following on the heels of his declaration of purpose in life, he says that this worthy citizen-living is the main thing, the only thing he has in mind for them to pursue.  so what does this look like actually?

-the first thing that characterizes the worthy conduct of citizens of the commonwealth of Heaven is this concept of standing firm.  the verb is stéko, which has the idea of something which has stood or has been made to stand in one place and is continuing to do so.  it comes from the same root as stérizo, which is another verb which has the idea of standing so firm and enduringly as to be established and fixed.  the position has been confirmed.  for these philippian believers (and all others for that matter), worthy conduct involves stick-to-it-iveness, a steadfastness and firmness of belief and commitment to and engagement with the Gospel, with Jesus.

-not only sticking to the Gospel, but sticking to each other.  this place where believers are standing in one place is a place where there are others who believe, and those who follow Christ are in it together, a togetherness in which there is one spirit.  there should be an amazing, enduring unity.  the same Spirit which gives us life and which animates our physical being also gives us new birth, gives us spiritual life and power and the fruit of transformed lives.  this One same Spirit indwells every Christ-follower and in fact is constantly at work forging bonds of love and peace and joy between those who are polités of the heavenly city (cf ephesians 4.3).  worthy conduct for citizens involves allowing that oneness of the life of the Gospel to manifest in such a way that we are being just as firm and fixed in our relationships with fellow Christ-followers as we are with Christ Himself.  we are a stake in the ground, and we are not moving.  it is samwise gamgee saying to frodo:

Sam: I made a promise, Mr Frodo. A promise. "Don't you leave him Samwise Gamgee." And I don't mean to. I don't mean to. 
Frodo: Go back, Sam. I'm going to Mordor alone. 
Sam: Of course you are. And I'm coming with you. 

we are sticking to each other through thick and thin, through whatever life and a broken world and our opponents might throw at us.  we are there for each other, we help carry one another’s unbearable burdens, and we encourage each other through life’s ups and downs.  we go through the dirt of life together.  we share our junk and we share our stuff - we are generous.  there are (or should be) no glaring unmet needs in an assembly of citizens of the Empire of Heaven (cf acts 2.44-45, acts 4.32-35).  we give grace to each other, we are patient and kind and forgiving to each other.  we believe the best about each other and we bear with one another’s gaps and failings - other believers are NOT the problem, and they are not our enemies!  they are our brothers and sisters, children of the King who He loves a lot.  we don’t get to pick and choose in our Heavenly family any more than we get to pick and choose in our earthly family.  none of us is perfect, but we are family.  we work it out, and stick together.

-the last word picture is that of competing together in one soul for the faith of the Gospel.  the word is synathleo, where the root verb is athleo, which means to compete for a prize as an athlete (which is also where we get our english word, athlete).  the prefix syn means with or together.  in other words, we are talking about a team.  not just a club that only hangs out and does life together, but a purposeful, missional community that is also competing together for the progress and spread of the Good News in the lives of people and communities and throughout the world, competing together to spread the knowledge of the breathtakingly good God and share His blessings in every nation.  and we are talking about a team - there is one soul.  not just tacit intellectual agreement about certain facts.  there is shared passion and volitional commitment and momentum around the advancing cause of Christ, and every citizen-member has a role to play on the team.  there are no spectators, no bench warmers.  if you are in Christ, if you are following Jesus, you are a citizen-member of the team of Heaven, and there is a local team that desperately needs you, and you need them, and you just need to get over it, whatever it is that is keeping you on the sidelines.  let go of your fear, let go of your insecurity, let go of your hurt, and find a way to join a team and get in the game.  the stakes are too high, eternity is too permanent, God is too breathtakingly good to be riding the pine.  Gospel-worthy conduct means competing on a Gospel team as an excellent teammate - it’s the one thing paul is telling us to do.

-paul doesn’t mention it here, although it perhaps shouldn’t go without saying, that this Gospel-worthy conduct, this citizen-of-heaven life that competes together as part of a team for the faith of the Good News is produced in those who follow Christ as they trust in and depend on Him (matthew 4.19).  Jesus can and will reproduce the representative life of His heavenly empire in the lives of those who are faithfully following Him - we just need to let Him.  i have a long, long way to go.

Philippians 1:26 - The Importance of face-to-face

"In order that your boasting in me may be abounding in Christ Jesus through the coming of me again to you."

-whether paul knew that he was going to actually see these believers in philippi again may be a matter of speculation.  whether or not he was eventually released and was able to visit them is uncertain.  but what we do know from this verse is that paul knew he not only needed to remain on earth for the sake of people but that it meant being with them - face-to-face, IN THEIR PRESENCE.  letters were fine, but actually being physically present with someone was even better at some level for some reason.  

-one might speculate how the advent of the electronic age and advances in technology may have changed that reality to some extent.  today it has become possible to communicate immediately and directly with people without having to be in their physical presence thanks to telephone and live video, not to mention the ease of just shooting someone an email or a text.  however in recognizing this we must consider not only the importance of being able to physically touch someone but what non-verbal message is conveyed when we take the time and make the effort to go and see people, whether it is across the room or down the hall or down the street or across campus or across town or across the world.  it tells them that they are important to you, that you value them, that they matter  really there is no substitute for actually going to see someone - shake their hand, hug their bod, see and smell each other’s warts and zits and bad breath and stuff.  paul knew that actually coming to be physically present with these philippian believers is what would be an overflowing source of joy and help to them in their faith.  there is something powerfully visceral about living, breathing, caring flesh and blood encroaching directly into my world, complete with forms of touch as well as words of life.

-paul mentions that the philippians would be boasting in him even more in Christ Jesus when he came to see them.  we shouldn’t take that in a spirit other than what paul intended.  these folks had a close and caring relationship, and the philippians knew that this very influential person in the early church CARED ABOUT THEM enough to not only found their assembly in the first place but to keep coming back to invest in their lives.  we’re not talking about paul having an unrealistic place in their hearts - he was a hero and a role model to them, someone they looked up to and whose example they could follow, nothing more, nothing less.  pick any spiritual hero of your own - how would you feel if they made a special point of coming to visit you?  exactly.

Philippians 1:25 - Passing on the Obsession

'And having become persuaded of this, I am having known that I will remain and I will remain beside you all unto your progress and joy of the faith.' 

-progress and joy of the faith.  this is the outcome for which paul was willing to delay his return to Jesus.  progress is prokopé, which means to cut before or forward, hence to forge ahead or advance or make headway.  it’s not always a good thing (2timothy 3.13).  Jesus did it as He was growing up (luke 2.52).  it goes hand in hand with the advance of the Gospel which paul just talked about (philippians 1.12) - we can talk about the forward progress of the Good News among the nations and unreached peoples and we can talk as paul does here about it’s forward progress in the hearts and lives of individuals as they grow in their devotion to Christ, as people become increasingly obsessed with knowing Christ and making Him known, as they progress in loving the Lord with all their heart and in their willingness to do anything and go anywhere and say anything for the sake of Jesus.  so paul is fully committed to helping these believers in philippi become more obsessed with Jesus and more absorbed in His cause.

-joy is chara.  it simply means joy or gladness.  this word along with its verb form (chairo, to rejoice) appears more often in this letter than in any other letter of the NT (18 times in just 4 chapters).  fully half these occurrences are paul talking about his own joy, so clearly this state does not depend on our circumstances, since paul as we know was in chains under house arrest.  and as we have seen, this is because joy for paul did not depend on where he was or what he had - it depended on Who he had.  it totally depended on Jesus.  it was grounded in how paul was doing at following and enjoying the Ultimate Source of true joy and in this forward progress of the Good News in the world.

-joy can be contagious.  it can be (and is meant to be) shared (1corinthians 12.26, philippians 2.18).  as a fruit of the Spirit (galatians 5.22) it shows God at work in our life and is naturally produced as we follow Christ and depend on Him.  it is therefore a sign of spiritual maturity as frustrated plans and the brokenness of life increasingly lose their ability to rob me of my joy.

-watch out for joy stealers, things that get our focus off of Jesus, off of God’s breathtaking goodness and greatness and faithfulness.  joy in one sense then becomes a choice - paul chose to rejoice in spite of his circumstances (philippians 1.18), and he repeatedly exhorts all those who follow Christ to do the same (philippians 4.4, romans 12.15, 2corinthians 13.11, 1thessalonians 5.16).  Christ is both the object and the source of joy.  He is the heavenly pearl with Whom we become obsessed, but real joy does come from God (romans 15.32, acts 13.52, john 15.11).  He gives His people the ability to receive it or reject it (cf 1peter 4.13, james 1.2).  in fact, Jesus said quite plainly that no one (and no thing?) would be able to take our joy away.  the only one who can ultimately take away my joy is me.

-it comes down to the question of, is God really good and is He really in control?  does He really know what He is doing, does He have my back, is He really working all things together for good, am i going to be a victim of the first mistake He ever made?  the answer is yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and no.  so in any and every situation, i can choose to focus on the negative and choose the path of worry and discouragement and let them steal away the joy that Jesus offers, or i can choose to focus on the Lord Who is in and above and behind all circumstances and Who is always fully present in power and goodness and faithfulness to work out His wonderful plan for my life and for the ones i love, which then sets me up to be filled with real and enduring joy.  it is so easy to lose sight of this.

-but here is the kicker: for paul it was not just about his own joy - it was about the joy of others.  paul not only knew the secret to joyful living, but he was totally committed to helping others experience that as well.  as he says here, one of his main reasons for living was simply so that others could have joy.  i have a long, long way to go.

Philippians 1:24 - It's all about people

"But the to be remaining on [in] the flesh [is] more necessary because of you."

-why was paul on earth?  what was his purpose for living?  why was he more than willing to wait before going to be with the One Who is way better?  one word - people.

-the word paul chooses here is epimeno, which is a stronger form of meno (to abide/remain).  thus, it means to remain on/at/with (1corinthians 16.8, romans 11.23, colossians 1.23).  it could involve the idea of persisting or even persevering (1timothy 4.16).  even as paul here begins to unpack the reason why he would continue to live on earth rather than go to be with Jesus (which is way better by far), it is possible that he is thinking that the waiting contains an element of having to persist and choose to do so in the face of hardship and even over and against his own personal desires.

-he says, ‘for your sake’.  because of you.  cf 2corinthians 4.15.  we see that paul was completely committed to living for others rather than self.  he tells us in the next chapter that even within his band of disciples he was surrounded by people who were primarily more interested in themselves and that he could only find one other person who - like Jesus Himself - was selfless enough to be genuinely concerned about the interests of others.  people who put self first are a dime a dozen - they are everywhere, the world is full of them, and the church is full of them.  living for others takes time.  it takes getting out of my own world and interests and taking the time to actually listen to others, to take the time to ask them how they are doing (and listening to the answer in a way that doesn’t make them feel like you are in a hurry), and to find ways to care for them in ways that actually make them feel cared for.  actually deferring what you want in order to take care of the needs and wants of another person or persons - this is preeminently Christlike, Who did not serve Himself but rather (as we will read in chapter 2) emptied Himself and took on the form of a slave and gave Himself up completely in order to serve others (cf philippians 2.7-8, matthew 20.28).  you can see it lived out in the lives of people who are raising their kids or caring for elderly parents - responsibilities which can be extremely exhausting, and we’re talking about your own flesh and blood.  but to give yourself to the Lord in order to serve others outside of your family?  

-for his part, paul was so ready and longing to be with Jesus, but he knew why God had left him here on earth.  living for Christ meant living for others.  it did not contain much margin for recreation or even a form of retirement where you could merely play around and travel and excessively live for self.  he was running the race to win until God called him home.  nor did living for Christ involve a cruise ship, mountain top form of monasticism where you just hang out with Jesus and the band all the time (cf matthew 9.13, mark 1.38), luke 19.10, john 6.38, 10.10).  it meant getting off the mountain and out of the cozy circle of intimates and actually getting messy with other people’s junk.  serving them.  being poured out for them (philippians 2.17).  in fact this entire letter resonates with the theme of living and giving it up for the sake of others.

-this is what Gospel ministry is all about.  it is Good News for the multitudes who bear the image of the One Who created them.  it is about showing them His love.  it is all about people, and serving and caring for them, meeting both their real and felt needs.  sometimes in ministry it is easy to forget this and focus on the program.  it can feel as though people are in the way and are making it harder to pull off the program.  instead of caring for people and serving them we try to manage people for the sake of the program and can wind up just using people in order to benefit the program (or at least that’s how they can be made to feel sometimes).  but people ARE the program.  Jesus did not come to earth to launch a program - He came to love and serve people, to shepherd His sheep.  God gathers people to Himself and blesses them so that they can bless others.  Gospel ministry is about protecting and feeding and caring for and laying down your life for a flock of sheep who are vulnerable and need food and who get lost easily.  following Jesus in Gospel ministry is usually hard, can be thankless - at least in this life, and in some cases it is deadly work (cf matthew 9.36-38, john 10.11-14, 21.15, acts 20.28-31, 1peter 5.1-3).  it requires total commitment and abandonment of self - it is not about me.  i have a long, long way to go. 

Philippians 1:23 - in the Presence

"But I am being gripped out of the two, having the desire unto the to depart and to be with Christ, for [that is] much more better."

-paul has what he see as two really good options, and he says he is gripped by them (same word that is used in 2corinthians 5.14 - the love of Christ gripped him), he is actually being pulled in both directions.  here he states again his desire to be with Christ, expressing again how Christ was for him (and by extension should be for us) not just the most important but also the most compelling and longed-for thing in life.

-to depart here is analuo, which means ‘to loose (or undo or leave) up or again’.  it gives us our word, analyze, where you would indeed take something and loosen it up in order to better understand it.  in luke 12.36 it is translated ‘return’ - and this probably better captures the sense of what paul is communicating here.  it is not just that you are departing, it’s not about what you are leaving - it is about where you are going.  you are returning.  you are going home, home to where you belong, to the place where you were created and always meant to be, and are now recreated to be.  paul had good reasons to stay on earth, but he so wanted to go home.

-this place is where Jesus is.  and so here it’s not about the where as much as Who is there.  to be with Christ - THAT is much more better.  paul is not ultimately trying to escape a broken world or hard circumstances.  he is not simply running from a bad situation and trolling for greener pastures.  he wants more than anything to be in the presence of Jesus because Jesus is just better.  He’s not just alright.  He is better than anything or anyone.  for paul, nothing compared to being with Christ, because nothing compared to Christ.  and he would know, because as best we can tell he had actually been in the Presence on at least two occasions (acts 9.3-4, galatians 1.15-17, cf 2corinthians 12.7). 

-what would you imagine it to be like to be physically with Jesus, with the glorified risen King of Kings, in the Presence?  in what way(s) would that better?  how exactly is He better?  i don’t think it’s a feast for the tastebuds per se.  but it IS what peter and john and james experienced on the mount of transfiguration (they didn’t want to leave - matthew 17.2-4).  it’s what moses experienced on mount sinai (and remember - he was up there for 40 days with no food or water - i think he was so caught up in God’s presence that he lost all concept of time - exodus 34.5-8, 28-30).  it is an unbelievable, indescribable sense of goodness and power, of love and majesty, of holiness and grace (cf isaiah 6.1-5).

-unfortunately, for those who have much in this life, an overabundance of comfort and ease and so many good things to enjoy - which is the case for many in the western church - our sense of the preeminent excellence of Christ has been severely blunted.  we are NOT longing to depart and be with Christ, because the simple fact is that we are far too wrapped up in and attached to our life here on earth.  we are too content with making mudpies in the slum.  we have at best only a foggy notion that infinite delight is offered to us in Christ.  altho i wonder however to what extent i can truly know the incomparable superiority of Christ until He is all that i have.  paul had actually learned to be content and satisfied in whatever circumstance he found himself, because he understood the truth that it’s not about what you have, it’s WHO you have.  paul was well-acquainted to being without food and shelter and to not having the niceties and amenities that the world has to offer.  he was no stranger to inconvenience and discomfort and pain, and to being rejected and mistreated by the world for the sake of Christ.  no doubt i can give lip service to the superiority of Christ but to really know it and feel in my heart of hearts is another thing altogether.  i have a long long way to go.

Philippians 1:22 - A purpose for living

"But if the to be living in flesh, this to me [is] fruit of work, and what I will choose I do not make known."

-it could also be phrased, ‘but if to be living in flesh, [if] this to me is fruit of work, THEN what i will choose i do not make known.’  as if in this rendering it was not automatically certain that any future time spent on earth would result in fruit.

-either way paul is torn, and he actually says he is not going to make known or declare what he will choose (the verb is not ginosko which means ‘to know’, but gnorizo) - to be with Christ (which he just said is gain), or to live on in the flesh.  in his mind, either one is a fantastic opportunity.  one upside of remaining here on earth - maybe THE upside - was that each and every day he lived on in the flesh at least gave paul the chance to bear fruit for Christ, to serve Him by serving others.  this was paul’s all-consuming reason for staying here on earth, his goal and purpose in living - fruitful work, the fruit of changed lives as he leveraged opportunities to try and help others know the love of Christ and follow Him (romans 1.13, colossians 1.6, john 4.36, cf romans 7.4-5 - bearing fruit for God vs bearing fruit for death).  ultimately the choice of whether to stay on earth or be with Christ wasn’t his to make, and so for as long as the Lord chose to leave him on earth his obsession with Christ would ultimately drive him to point others to Jesus, each and every day.

Philippians 1:21 - A Magnificent Obsession

"For to me the to be living [is] Christ and the to die [is] gain."

-to die is gain.  to die is gain.  again, to die is gain.  the average pagan or materialist has it in mind that this life is all there is, all that matters.  death therefore becomes for these the ultimate tragedy because all that is good and enjoyable in existence is lost when life comes to an end.  death is not gain - it is total loss.  and to be sure, the one who lives for this life will indeed lose it all when they die.  not only do you leave it all behind, but the reality is that those things never fill the God-shaped hole in your heart anyway.  so you die both empty-handed and unsatisfied.  however, the one who lives for and sets their hope on Christ in this life will, when they die, receive that which far surpasses and long outlasts any passing pleasure to be found in this world.

-so first, to be living is Christ.  to be alive is Christ.  it is all about Jesus - living for Him, living thru Him, Christ living thru me (cf Galatians 2.20).  Life = Christ.  He is the Destination and the Way to get there.  He is both the Means and the End.  He is the Reason for living and is Life itself.  yes, to be living is Jesus, living for Him, living in Him, living thru Him, Jesus alive in me - more of Him and less of me.  again, He must be increasing and I must be decreasing.  we are enjoying Him more and more (and more than anything else), we are reflecting Him more and we are serving Him (and others for His sake) more (such that others see more of Him and less of Me).  we talk to Him.  we talk about Him - we can’t not talk about Him.  we are consumed, focused, devoted, deliberate and intentional.  we are obsessed: our mind is filled and we are preoccupied continually, intrusively, and to a troubling extent.  if to be living is Christ, then Christ is indeed an all-consuming obsession.  it was for paul at least.

-think about it - put anything else in that place and what do you get?  to live is ______.  what if for someone it is, to live is ‘the dallas cowboys’?  to live is ‘food’?  to live is ‘sports’?  to live is ‘video games’?  to live is ‘my career’?  to live is 'my temporal cause'?  to live is ‘pleasure’?  to live is ‘a relationship’?  to live is ‘how i look’?  put anything else in there and you get someone who is similarly obsessed but is unsatisfied or selfish and quite possibly both.

-to be sure, most of us who follow Christ are nowhere close to being obsessed.  we’re not even in the same hemisphere.  He is at best our faithful pastime, a hobby, an activity we choose to engage in regularly for pleasure rather than work.  but work, which is more of an obligation, something we have to do in order to survive and which we sometimes enjoy - sadly, for many, Christ is work, an activity requiring physical or mental effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.  in which case He IS a means to an end, but it is our end which we have in mind.  He is not the end, rather it is about our ‘fire insurance’.

-most of us are not obsessed with anything.  we are... 'balanced'.  which means we are essentially average (mediocre?) in most things.  but that likely means we are rather lukewarm.  we are the church of laodicea.  how does Christ put it?  ‘I wish that you were cold or hot, but because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of My mouth.’ (revelation 3.15-19).  those folks were prosperous, and were not in a place of need, much like many of us who follow Christ in the west.  surely obsession is in part driven by desparate need, by the severe lack of something.  obsession with Christ is driven by a need for Christ - i want Christ, and i NEED Him, desperately.  Christ’s word to the laodiceans was to be zealous (hot) and to change their mind about what was really important in life, what they wanted and needed.  be hot.  be obsessed.  for my part, i have a long, long way to go.