Philippians 3:7-8 “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”

In his former life, Paul considered many things “to his profit” that he did not regard so anymore. He was Paul, the great champion of the Jewish people and faith. It made him a highly respected member of his religious party, an up-and-coming leader of his people. All the signs pointed to him achieving even greater things, reaching new heights of power and influence. His opportunity, his stature, his future made him the envy of many in Israel. His moral integrity and activism made many regard him a man worthy of God’s favor. Paul was the kind of man who could claim, “I am a good person,” and almost everyone else would agree.

Then he met Jesus Christ and threw it all away. His heritage, his law keeping, his religious activism, his bright future–he no longer saw these things in the profit column, assets for life and eternity, things that could get him ahead or secure a place in the life to come.

They weren’t even neutral. They were losses, obstacles. He calls them “rubbish,” trash. The Greek word can even refer to animal excrement. We have owned cats before. The contents of the litter box isn’t the kind of thing you save and treasure. It’s the kind of thing you have to take outside and dispose of before it stinks too bad. That was Paul’s new regard for the old life into which he had invested so much effort, on which he had based so many hopes. The surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ made everything else merely trash.

To make Jesus part of his life, Paul had to get rid of the bad stuff: the legalism, self-righteousness, and persecution. But note he didn’t stop there. “I consider everything a loss,” he says. The whole contents of his earthly life, good and bad, was so much trash compared to knowing Jesus. And until we have learned to see our own lives that way, the question can be asked if we really know Jesus at all. It’s not just the wicked and questionable parts of our past or present. In my teens and twenties I can point to self-indulgent or mean-spirited things I did or said. They are things that make me wince and blush, the kinds of things that people sometimes excuse as natural youthful rebellion, the kind of things some will even sit around and reminisce about. I am not going to bother you with the specifics. But that stuff stinks. It needs to be taken out like the trash and left at the curb.

On the backside of middle age, I see the filters coming off my mouth. My patience is getting thin. It becomes easier and easier to be a grouch. There is a reason there is a movie titled Grumpy Old Men, but no movie by the title Grumpy Young Men. One grumpy old man I used to serve as pastor confessed a certain pride in becoming a curmudgeon. But these aren’t changes to embrace. They are sins to repent. They are so much doggy doo stuck to the bottom of your shoes that shouldn’t be tracked through the house and stored in the closet. It should be washed off outside before it has a chance to dry on and stick tight.

That much should be easy to see. But what about the high GPA, the awards and scholarships, the diplomas with the fancy Latin words printed on them? What about the acts of charity, the donations to good causes, the dollars and hours spent helping others? What about finally getting that dream job, that dream house, that dream car, that dream vacation, or that dream family? In and of themselves none of these are evil, any more than it was evil for Paul to be circumcised or born into the tribe of Benjamin. But compared to knowing Jesus Christ my Lord? Rubbish, trash, manure. And if my earthly goodness, successes, or possessions get in the way of seeing it so, then clearly they are not to my profit but my loss. They are blinding me to my one true treasure.

To gain Christ and be found in him—that is profit because in him we get credit for his genuinely righteous life and receive the forgiveness for the entire debt of our sin. To know Christ as my Lord—that is greatness, not because we have done something so wonderful, but because he loves us and treats us so well. He makes everything else merely trash by comparison.