Successful and Broken
My wife and her superpowers. Super power of good looks. Super power of laughing at my jokes. Super power of being patient and caring.
But most notable of her superpowers is her ability to not just know where all of her things are, and the kids things, and the dog's things, but also all of my stuff. If I can’t find my keys–she knows. Can’t find my shoes–she knows. Can’t find the screw that goes to that thing I took apart a couple of months ago and left on the living room table but isn’t there now–she knows. Now in some ways she probably should know because she is the one who moved it, put it where it belongs, but we don’t talk about that!
But what often gets me is when I lose things, turn the whole house upside down, and am fully convinced it is no longer in the house, she looks at me and says it’s right there. Your keys are right there. The screw is right there. Right where I said. It is amazing how things often get lost in plain sight.
As we continue our series, Broken and Healed, I want to talk about a type of brokenness that gets lost, even though it is in plain view. It is a brokenness that hides as being unbroken. A brokenness that will get you celebrated and promoted. A brokenness that will get you praise. “He works so hard. He does all the right things.” A brokenness that can look so pious for the Lord. But it is nonetheless brokenness that needs healing.
The brokenness I am speaking of is the brokenness of self righteousness.
We seek to make ourselves right in God’s eyes. It's the great danger of being in the church community and committing to the work of God without knowing the gospel of God.
You see some people go through things, and the way they deal with them is to medicate with rebellion. They quit working, give themselves to partying to numb the pain. Others will feel the pain of life and decide they are going to do everything right so they will never feel the pain. Their desire for success is simply a masking of the problem. It's a cover. They are trying to do all the right things so they don't have to depend on God. They can be in the church community, and completely lost. Lost in plain sight.
For them to be healed, they must first be broken, and God breaks the self righteousness so they can find the true righteousness of God.
The Futility of Self Righteousness
In this passage Paul is addressing some adversaries. The adversaries in this passage are trying to get this church to listen to them and not the apostle Paul. They are using their accolades to sway other people away from God’s word and away from the apostle Paul. “If you know what I have done you will listen to me. Look at me.”
These people are not boasting of the keg stand at the frat party or how they ripped off another person for money. These people are actually boasting of their religious zeal. They are boasting and asserting what they have done for God.
It's an interesting argument here. Rather than have a theological debate, Paul says, “OK, you want to boast? I can play that game. I’m the champ at that game.”
For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more. (Phil. 3:3, 4)
The issue here is not trying or wanting to do well. The issue here is with being righteous. Righteous means to be fully in line with the law. And not just any law, with the law of God. Being righteous means we merit God’s blessing.
The key with self righteousness. Is seen in the Greek words righteousness and justify. In Greek these words are closely related.
Dikaiw - I justify
Dikaiwsune- righteousness
Self righteousness and self justification are closely related. You declare yourself righteous because you justify your actions. These are courtroom terms. Self righteousness requires something significant. That you are the defendant and the judge. This would never be allowed in a court of law. You don't get to preside over your own trial. Everything makes sense to you. Your motives are just fine, and even if not completely, just overlook them a little. Self righteous person overlooks their slight imperfections but brings the hammer down on others.
In the gospel God declares/justifies us, not based on our work, but based on what Christ has done for us. We realize there is no amount of work that we can do to earn our righteousness. We surrender to what he has done for us.
Self righteousness is a form of spiritual pride. Proud people exalt themselves and put others down. Not looking up to God because you are constantly looking down on others. Put ourselves in the place of God–to judge.
The List
If you are self righteous then you are the one who represents yourself and what you have done. You know how you have earned your way. And that means you have a list. Self righteous people have lists. And they use it. Paul has a list of accomplishments. All things that contributed to his righteousness before God.
- of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, his family. He was of the people of God. He knows his lineage. He knows who he belongs to. He is not some random outsider. He could name drop with the best of them.
- circumcised on the eighth day (v. 5), His family practiced the faith. He was a part of their covenant community. Recognized by all. His law keeping started exactly as it should on the date it should have. He has not missed anything.
- a Hebrew of Hebrews; Plural of superlative. Player of players. Singer of singers. He is a Hebrew, an Israelite through and through. He valued his culture, his heritage. Appreciating and embracing all of the Hebrew culture and religion.
- as to the law, a Pharisee; he was one opposed to the outside influence on his fatih. He was strict. He was a leader. He knows the distinctions and is committed.
- as to zeal, a persecutor of the church (v. 6); want to talk about zeal. He didn’t just observe the law, he enforced it. He wanted others to conform to it. If you didnt he was just fine showing some hostility, to accuse, and to terrorize those who didn’t agree.
- as to righteousness under the law, blameless. How intense was he in this. He says he was blameless. He knew the word and was meticulous in it. That is quite a boast. He could provide proof of what he did. He has the certificates for confirmation and winning the Scripture sword drill.
Richard R. Melick wrote:
Paul did not mean that he had lived perfectly in accordance with the law. In this context, he boasted of externally verifiable qualities that demonstrated the religious standing he had before he became a Christian. … Paul’s point was that he had an outwardly perfect record! He had never been accused of breaking any law and, therefore, “showed himself blameless.” "Philippians, Colossians, Philemon," vol. 32, p. 130, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1991)
Paul has a list like no other.
In Acts 22:3 Paul mentions how he learned under a teacher named Gamaliel. This is one of the greatest teachers of his day. He was the best of the best. Hebrew of Hebrews. You got reason to boast, I ve got more.
Self righteous people have a list. And they proclaim that list to others. They want others to know what they have done. They use that list before God. Look what I have done. This is certainly what the false teachers are doing. Look at me. Look what I have done. It's foolish to do that.
Paul has an impressive display of accomplishments. He had the degrees, the certifications, the approval of the community. He was a who's who. But you know what? Paul was as lost as lost can be.
He was the leader of those who were persecuting the church. He was having people thrown into prison and he was terrorizing the church. He gave approval to the first Christian martyr.
He missed the connection of his faith pointing to the need for a crucified savior. He missed that Jesus was the prophet who was to come, that all the psalms, prophets, and writings were pointing to Christ.
If we think we are usually good, then God is usually irrelevant... Such thinking ignores the depths of sin in my own heart, and, in essence, it elevates me so that I am just a mildly flawed imitation of God rather than someone completely dependent on Him.” (Edward T Welch)
The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation. (Charles Spurgeon)
Miracle of Miracles
The hardest people to reach with the love of God are not the bad people. They know they are bad. They have no defense. The hardest ones to win for God are the self-righteous people. (Charles L. Allen)
Saul is at the height of his persecution of the church, when Jesus appears to him, knocks him off his horse with a blinding light, and says to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me” (Acts 9:4).
In that moment, everything Paul believed and was living for unraveled. All his success and acclamations. All his accomplishments are rendered useless. All his schooling and training. And the professional contacts he had were wiped away.
Everything he was about was off base. All his works. All his great deeds and accomplishments were nothing.
He thought he was doing something for God, but in that moment he realized it was for things and not God.
Paul is at the top of his game, he is at the top of the ladder of success, and he is gaining speed in what he is doing, and all of a sudden God appears to him and shows him he is as lost as the prostitutes, tax collectors, and Samaritans. No one is more lost than Paul.
Have you ever been at the top of your game and the Lord makes it clear that what you are going after is not the thing of most significance? Maybe you were completely off, going after worldly goals in worldly ways. Maybe it's something you were trying to honor God with but you didn’t see how far you were from doing that. Sometimes it’s when he takes it away that you realize it wasn’t really for him.
Chuck Colson
The late great Chuck Colson was an American attorney and political advisor who served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1970. Once known as President Nixon's "hatchet man," Colson gained notoriety at the height of the Watergate scandal, for being named as one of the Watergate Seven and also for pleading guilty to obstruction of justice for attempting to defame Pentagon Papers defendant Daniel Ellsberg.
Colson would go to jail, but he would also come to Christ and have a very influential ministry, a prison ministry, and reach many people for Christ.
He poke about his conversion. He visited a friend, Tom Phillips who
was president of the Raytheon Company, at his home outside of Boston. I’d represented Raytheon before going to the White House, and I was about to start again. But I visited for another reason as well. I knew Tom had become a Christian, and he seemed so different. I wanted to ask him what had happened.
That night he read to me from Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis, particularly a chapter about the great sin that is pride. A proud man is always walking through life looking down on other people and other things, said Lewis. As a result, he cannot see something above himself immeasurably superior—God.
Tom, that night, told me about encountering Christ in his own life. He didn’t realize it, but I was in the depths of deep despair over Watergate, watching the president I had helped for four years flounder in office. I’d also heard that I might become a target of the investigation as well. In short, my world was collapsing.
That night, as Tom was telling me about Jesus, I listened attentively, but didn’t let on my own need. When he offered to pray, I thanked him but said, no, I’d see him sometime after I read C. S. Lewis’s book. But when I got in the car that night, I couldn’t drive it out of the driveway. Ex-Marine captain, White House tough guy, I was crying too hard, calling out to God. I didn’t know what to say; I just knew I needed Jesus, and He came into my life.
Marine tough guy, hatchet man, elite position. Long list of accomplishments yet empty and completely broken. Colson's accolades did not matter one bit. He had committed some offenses, and all his good works would not get him out of it.
Many people will climb the ladder of success only to find that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall. Your religious success will not save you. If you add all your good works and try to make them balance out all your bad works, you will never be righteous. You will exhaust yourself.
When someone, even someone in the church and around the things of God, realizes how insufficient his works are and needs to truly depend on Christ, that is a miracle. It is profound. It is deep. It is just as miraculous and the prostitutes, tax collectors, or sinners come to faith!
The Freedom of Christ’s Righteousness
What brought healing to Paul? God simply pointed out that everything he worked for and accomplished was a failure. It was done in opposition to God! What hope is left. The hope that was available to everyone else. It was the hope of Christ’s righteousness.
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. (Phil. 3:7)
Paul sees how worthless his accomplishments were. Rubbish–skubala, the Greek equivalent of a vulgar four-letter word for excrement. And that is what he views all his accomplishments as. The things he once paraded and hung on the wall and boasted to others, had in the trophy case, he now lets go of.
Those don’t make you right with God. Only the perfect righteousness of God that comes to us through Jesus Christ.
"And be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Phil 3:9).
May be found in Christ. It is a gift and not something you earn. A crucified savior is unthinkable for a self righteous person. But when we see our brokenness. When we see the insufficiency of our works.
God wants you to see his mercy and not your accolades.
God wants you to see him and his requirements and not yourself.
At that time he saw the foolishness of his past life and embraced a new way. No one can choose Christ who does not first see the failure of his own works. No one can choose Christ who does not first see their great need of salvation.
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Timothy 1:15, 16)
Self righteous people require a lot of patience. Just like rebellious people require patience. Self righteous people are not patient people. They want to whip everyone into shape. They like telling others they are wrong. Self righteous can often look like enforcing the law. He can be hidden in the guise of justice. You do what is just, but not what is merciful.
Coming to Jesus changes you, from being hard-hearted and constantly attacking others and boasting of yourself, to being one who wants to show mercy to others. It changes everything. It gives you purpose in life.
Paul’s testimony: Aside from the crucifixion of Jesus, it is the most told account in the New Testament. Peter shared his restoration. The Samaritan woman told her story of Jesus. Paul tells his. Something about experiencing the grace of God leads us to want to tell others.
God has shown me mercy. I don’t deserve his blessing. I have done nothing and can do nothing to earn it. He has provided it for me in Christ. I simply need to receive it and put it on.
Before Christ I was the guy always trying to size others up. Wanted to be stronger and tougher than everyone. Those things became unimportant when I came to know Christ. I no longer cared about that. I wanted to help others. I now cared about others. I wanted to know them and if they knew Jesus. If not, I wanted to share that with them. I wanted to know how I could pray for them. How they were doing in life. It opened up a way for me to love them.
**Have you submitted to Christ as your Lord and Savior, or do you have a list?**
Look what I have done. Big difference. It’s not about what you are doing. Doing is not the same thing as trusting and following. Your religiosity is pushing God to the side. He is calling you to leave all and follow him and you are like, well I gave to the offering, or I went to Bible study.
*Those few good deeds don’t make it right to hold back other parts of your life.*
He is either Lord of all or he is not Lord at all. What is it going to take for him to finally humble you?
You have to see that there is nothing more important than being found in Christ. Sometimes you have things you want to achieve, and you are seeking to achieve those things in a way that is contrary to following Jesus. You have already lost those. They will never provide you with what you hope for.
Being a Christian is recognizing that the one thing that matters most in life is being righteous before God, in which there is no fault in us, there is nothing wrong, there is nothing deserving of judgment. Still, even our best deeds are like filthy rags before God. We need the righteousness of Christ. Our works cannot do it. We have nothing to boast of. Our works are nothing but an offering of thanks to God. We let go of those. We build our lives on what Christ has done for us.
Want something to be confident of? Then look to Christ.
All I have is Christ.
Discussion Questions
- What were some of Paul’s accolades? Why was there a temptation to trust in these things?
- What is at the heart of self righteousness and self justification? How does that keep us from what God has done for us?
- How does one find salvation in Christ? How is that good news to those who have gotten lost in their success?
