“But One Thing I ____”

In his personal testimony to his beloved friends in the church at Philippi (Phil, 3:7-16) Paul summed up the goal of his life with two little Greek words, en de (3:13). But he does not complete the sentence. It is as if he was saying to those friends who knew him well, you fill in the blank. But one thing I [Paul] ____. Paul follows his testimony with an urgent admonition (3:17), Brothers and sister join together in imitating me and scope out those who walk according to this pattern (my paraphrase). It is your turn, you fill in the blank, But one thing I ____. All those plurals in this admonition suggest that the whole church is to fill in the blank, But one thing we ____.

By reading what has preceded and what follows that uncompleted sentence, we see Paul filling in the blank. One Thing enabled him to correctly evaluate his past – forgetting; to determine how to live in the present – know him; and to live toward a certain future – straining forward. For Paul, that “one thing” was a person – knowing Jesus Christ as Lord, becoming like him, and pressing on toward the goal of knowing him completely on the last day. That knowledge of Christ has been exhibited in Christ’s story told in Phil. 2:6-11. This hymn was Paul’s mindset and it is also ours in Christ Jesus. Individually and as a church we must fill in the blank with “one thing” that orients our existence.

So, what does all this mean here and now? The 19th century Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, wrote, “Purity of heart Is to will one thing.” Rather than commenting on Paul’s statement in Philippians 3, he referred to Jesus’ beatitude, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Mt. 5:8). Pure means to be unmixed, without alloy. That is the human problem addressed by Kierkegaard, by Jesus, and by Paul. Yes, even the Christians in Philippi were mixed. So am I and so are we. Shall we rely on our flesh or on God? Do we profess faith in Christ, but have another god, our belly? Is our goal to know Christ now and in the ultimate future compromised by other goals that take priority? In our mixed up world, let us have a mindset like Paul’s, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. In the meantime, let’s try to fill in the blank, But one thing I/we ____.

--Tom Yoakum