“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 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. 3:7-8 English Standard Version).
When I think about missions, I often think about the sacrifice this work requires. To an American Christian, such a sacrifice might mean using money saved for a week of relaxing vacation to instead go on a short-term mission trip. Or it may mean something as simple as diverting weekly Starbucks money to spreading the Gospel. Of course, it is easy to say that I want to support and be involved in missions, but I do not think I am alone in my initial, fleshy resistance to sacrificing for it.
In truth, these paltry misgivings reveal a heart in me that does not always value or understand Christ’s worth and sacrifice.
Consider Paul. He sacrificed everything– his status as a Pharisee of the Pharisees, comfort, financial security, respect from his peers– to live a life fraught with danger, lack, abuse, and resistance. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:25, “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea.” When he was stoned at Lystra, they dragged him out of the city and supposed he was dead (Acts 14:19). Paul was arrested multiple times (and yet he sang hymns to God in prison!). And if these incidents were not enough, toward the end of his ministry, many of his friends abandoned him (See 2 Tim. 4:9-16).
Paul felt the cumulative effect of these events. When he and his company were experiencing affliction in Asia, he said, “We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:8-9). In fact, through his entire ministry, he never wavered or doubted his calling; he persevered to the end and “endured” all persecutions and sufferings (2 Tim. 3:11). Seems like sacrifice, right?
Here is the amazing thing: Paul did not think he had sacrificed anything. The value Paul attributed to the “worth of knowing Christ Jesus” was so exceedingly great that the value of everything he lost was, by comparison, “rubbish” (Phil. 3:7-8).
What Paul did is akin to an American Christian living upper middle class with a respected political career and then walking away from that life to live in a third world country hostile to Christianity and preaching and teaching the Word of God in the face of physical and mortal danger.
We would likely consider such a change quite the sacrifice! But in truth, such loss is inconsequential rubbish when given up for Christ.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Jamie Allgood serves as an Attorney & Counselor at Law with the law firm Smith Strong, PLC, focusing her legal practice on all types of family law matters in the Richmond and Williamsburg areas.
Jamie graduated from Christopher Newport University with a B.A. in Political Science, and she graduated from Regent University School of Law with her juris doctorate. She is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Jamie lives in Mechanicsville, Virginia with her husband, Gene, and two children, Briahna and Judah. When she isn’t advocating for her clients, Jamie loves spending time with her family.
