Philippians 3:7-8: Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.
Because He was the very form of God, Jesus did not cling to equality with God. Because He was God, He was not proud or envious. Because He was God, He humbled and emptied Himself and took the form of a servant.
Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, Paul says. Paul sets the example. Though he has much to boast about as a Hebrew of the Hebrews, a zealous Pharisee, a blameless law-keeper, he considers it all garbage, all loss. He gives it all up in order to know the Lord Jesus, who gave it all up too.
Every change is initially experienced as loss.
The loss is obvious when the change is for the worse, but even joyful changes feel like loss. You move to a new place, and you fondly remember your old home. You get married, and you lose the security you had with your parents. Even sanctification can feel like loss. We become so attached to our sin that it comes to define us, and when we finally give it up, we no longer know who we are. Sin makes itself at home; it disguises itself as comfort.
We who eat and drink here are called to deny ourselves and follow Jesus. We are called to loss. But Paul says that under the gospel our gain is all out of proportion to our loss.
This meal embodies the exchange of the gospel. We lay aside our sin; and God gives a taste of the kingdom. We strip away our rags; and God invests us as priests and kings. We hate father and mother; God adopts us into His family. We abandon old loyalties; and we become table fellows of the Son of God. This table is God’s pledge that in Jesus nothing of value will finally be lost. Having demanded all, Jesus gives back everything, and more than everything.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
