Whatever Gain I Had, I Counted as Loss

In one paragraph

Van preached from Philippians 3:1-14 on what it means to stop placing confidence in yourself and place it entirely in Christ. He worked through Paul's argument that every earthly credential, no matter how impressive, is rubbish compared to knowing Jesus. The message landed close to home, since Van arrived in Jackson just two weeks earlier and spoke openly about his own need to depend on Christ...

Read together

1. Philippians 3:7-11 read aloud before the sermon as the main passage
2. Philippians 3:1-14 the full passage Van preached through verse by verse
3. Acts 9 Paul on the road to Damascus, blinded by light, encounters Jesus
4. Philippians 2:6-11 quoted in full as a poem describing who Christ is and his humility and exaltation
5. Jeremiah 9:23 quoted as dovetailing with the sermon, boasting only in knowing the Lord
6. Galatians 6:14 Paul saying he boasts only in the cross of Christ, the world crucified to him
7. 2 Corinthians 5:17 anyone in Christ is a new creation, the old has passed away
8. Matthew 13 parable of the man who finds treasure in a field and sells everything to buy it
9. 1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul saying he worked harder than any of them
10. Colossians 1:28-29 proclaiming Christ, toiling with his energy that powerfully works within
11. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me
12. John 9 blind man healed by Jesus on the Sabbath, one thing I know I was blind and now I see

Talk about it

1. Paul warns against putting confidence in the flesh, and then lists his own impressive religious resume. What kinds of things do people today, including ourselves, tend to treat as a spiritual resume or a source of confidence before God?
2. Van described Paul's encounter on the road to Damascus as the moment when his physical blindness brought him spiritual sight, and everything on his resume flipped from gain to loss. Has there been a moment in your own life when something you valued highly started to look different once you understood more of who Christ is?
3. Van quoted Jim Elliot: 'He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.' What are some things we hold onto that we cannot ultimately keep, and what does it look like practically to loosen our grip on them?
4. Van pointed to the parable of the treasure in the field and asked whether we actually live as if knowing Christ is worth more than everything else. Where do you find that hardest to live out, and why do you think that is?
5. Van drew a distinction between pressing on and straining forward on one hand, and earning salvation on the other. How do you personally hold those two things together, and how would you explain that distinction to someone who was confused by it?