Scripture Reading - Day 1 (Ash Wednesday)

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, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. (PHILIPPIANS 3:8-11, NIV)

Meditation

Forty-one small boxes. Piled together, they were about the size of a twin bed, and inside them was everything my family owned. After a quarter century of ministry in Japan, the Lord was clearly leading Rob and me to base our ministry out of the U.S. for the next two years. Because the cost of storing our household goods in Tokyo was prohibitive, we had to dispose of everything except for a few bare essentials—mostly books and files, family photo albums, treasured memories of our kids’ childhood in Japan, and a few family mementos. As I looked at the meager pile of boxes representing our lives, a wave of emotion swept over me, “Is this it? Is this all we have to show for the past 25 years? Is this all I’m worth?”

My American culture has trained me to think that my personal worth is equal to the value of my “stuff.” Pastor Lloyd Ogilvie has written, “In our culture, getting ahead, advancing professionally, gaining recognition, and acquiring the comfort stuff of life…are the goals that fire our ambition and passion. For many of us Christ is added only as a side benefit.” The Japanese culture places less value on the acquisition of things and instead prizes harmony in relationships. Worshipping ancestors is an important part of maintaining the wa, or harmony, within the family. When they become Christians, Japanese believers are sometimes ostracized by their relatives for abandoning ancestor worship and honoring a “foreign god.” Many young converts struggle with the question, “What truly matters?”

The apostle Paul dealt with this same question in the book of Philippians. Probably written just before his death, Paul reflects on the incredible status and privilege he enjoyed as an honored Pharisee in the Jewish culture. But on the Damascus Road, he had suddenly been transported beyond cultural values to the eternal values of the Kingdom. Everything in Paul’s former life was stripped away, but to him, it meant absolutely nothing “compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” His love—his passion—became clear: “to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings .” Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was of lasting worth. When Ogilvie asked dying people what they would change about their lives, they often responded, “I would spend more time with Christ and give less time to things which distracted me from Him. I would make Christ the passion of my life.”

Reflection

• If you had to leave all your possessions, what would you miss the most?
• Look again at Paul’s life passion. How would you describe yours?
• How does the use of your time and resources reflect the values of your culture? The values of the Kingdom?

Staff Bio

Jean Gill and her husband, Rob, lived in Japan for 27 years and are currently based out of Urbana, IL while continuing their ministry in Cambodia and Japan. Jean is the team leader for ReFocusing Missionary Leaders and also serves as the training coordinator for CRM’s international staff.

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