All or nothing

READ Philippians 3:10-11

It’s been said that people are different. No surprise there – right?! There’s all sorts of categories of people but the two I want to mention this week are those who fall into one of two mindsets: those who have an either/or mindset or a both/and mindset.

Either/or’s are about options. They like keeping their options open and don’t prefer the both and approach. The both/and’s are about wanting it all. They really don’t like making choices so instead they go with a both/and approach. All of us have a tendency, a preference toward one or the other. Our tendency may be slight or it may be strong one way or the other. But we all have our preferences when presented with different situations and circumstances.

When I read the Philippians 3:10-11 passage, I think of these two mindsets. Some of us would prefer the either/or approach vs. the both/and. And to be honest I’d much rather the either/or approach to this one verse. However, God doesn’t give us that option. His word isn’t intended to be a pick and choose approach. Pick what you like and choose to dismiss what you don’t like. Instead His word is both/and; it's an all or nothing approach. Here’s how this plays out with this passage.

The apostle Paul says, I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. So far so good right? I mean we want to know Christ, that's a good thing; and we want to understand the power of His resurrection, another good thing. But then comes the tough part, and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings. Anybody want that? This is where it gets dicey for us. We don't really want to experience this type of community with Christ where we share in His sufferings, where we experience the rejection and humiliation, pain and suffering like our Lord did. So why did Paul say this? I mean, it is an odd desire don't you think?I'd say it is. However, Paul understood something about knowing Jesus that allowed Him to experience an amazing relationship with His savior. Paul knew he was going to experience suffering for Christ's sake in his life (Acts 9:16). And he learned Jesus' teachings included John 15:20 - they will persecute you because of me. And Matthew 5:10-12 where Jesus said Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. We're told all throughout scripture that suffering is to be expected if we're following Christ.

So why is sharing in His sufferings something Paul desired? I think it's because he also knew the last part of Matthew 5:10-12 where Jesus said, rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Listen, our faith is about following the example of Christ. Living and loving as He lived and loved. When we do this, some people in this world will respond favorably and some will not. So that will result in some suffering. But if it's for His purposes and His plan then we are to live with this attitude toward suffering - bring it on! Because all of us can handle anything that comes our way when God is with us (1 Corinthians 13). May God be our strength, our peace and our hope!!