Dead Wrong?

Paul tells us he has given up everything for the sake of Jesus Christ.

Finally, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not troublesome to me, and for you it is a safeguard. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this 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 heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained. - Philippians 3:1-16

There was a major burden Paul had to carry with him.  It was knowing how he persecuted the early followers of Jesus.

That didn't play into his thinking at all while he believed he was doing the right thing.  He had justified his actions fully, until he received a revelation.

Imagine believing whole heartedly in something only to suddenly discover you were dead wrong.  Imagine the guilt one would carry.

Perhaps the message in Paul's letter is one of awareness.  

He invites us to try something that could have a profound impact on our lives, allowing us to see what has been invisible to us.

If we let go of all we believe we know and look at the world around us without prejudice or forethought, what will we see?

Paul saw that he was dead wrong in his approach, his belief, his commitment to what he saw as the truth.

But how many of us have the courage to strip away our strong convictions and take on the opposite, even if just for a moment, to try on what we are holding apart as wrong or evil?

We have to remember that Paul was fully supporting the law before Jesus showed him he was heading in the wrong direction.

It took three days of Paul being blind and confused before he started to see.

So, if this is an invitation to see ourselves differently, how many will even try?

When we are convinced we are right, why would we want to try to understand the opposing view?

Or maybe we fear we will discover we are wrong?

More to come...