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By Efrain Agosto<\/a><\/p>\n I have often wondered about the trajectories my life has taken. I was raised a Latino Pentecostal<\/a> in New York City but educated in a liberal arts tradition at Columbia University in Manhattan. I was exposed to evangelical and then liberal Protestant traditions in seminary and graduate school. My theological views have changed over the years. I have moved from Pentecostal to Baptist to Congregational (United Church of Christ)<\/a> church traditions.<\/p>\n Yet at each step of the way, I have been able to build on the solid foundations of the past in moving to new understandings for the new circumstances in my life. These life transitions never started from \u201cscratch.\u201d Some of these same tensions might have motivated Paul in considering, at least rhetorically, his past a \u201closs\u201d in comparison to a new way of living and being in Philippians 3:4b-14<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Credentials Aside, What is Truly Important?<\/strong><\/p>\n It is hard to imagine the Apostle Paul rejecting tradition and received knowledge, but that is what he does here in the middle of this letter. He writes from prison but doesn\u2019t seem to mind focusing on such values as joy, unity and perseverance, even when his circumstances should lead to desperation, fear and hopelessness.<\/p>\n At the beginning of the letter, Paul is clear that he might face death as a result of his confinement in a Roman prison. He writes, however, that he would rather survive and \u201ccontinue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith\u201d (Phlp. 1:25 NRSV<\/a>). So putting aside worldly status and \u201cearthly\u201d credentials is not all that big a deal for Paul. He has always had high regard for the traditions that made him who he is and in fact depends on them. At the same time, his experience of Christ has led him to understand his past in a new light.<\/p>\n Paul has all the right credentials as a well-bred, well-educated product of the people of Israel. More than that, he identifies with one of the more highly regarded expressions of Judaism at the time, the Pharisaic tradition. He has always been faithful to the foundations of that historic religious tradition. He even pursued judgment against perceived usurpers to that tradition, the followers of a fellow Jew, Jesus of Nazareth. Yet because of an encounter with that Jesus and how his teachings and memories lived on in a new life, through the resurrection of this Christ, Paul wants to put his past in proper perspective not negating it, but \u201ccounting it a loss\u201d in comparison to the \u201csurpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord\u201d (Phlp. 3:8<\/a>). In Paul\u2019s mind, he is not turning his back on who he was but embracing a new perspective that makes him who he is. Many of us will relate well to this experience. After all, don\u2019t we find that our lives change in light of \u201cnew knowledge?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What do we do with this \u201cnew Knowledge\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n In these days, what are the sources of such life-altering \u201cnew knowledge?\u201d There are many places for us to turn. Though I grew up without guns, I was surrounded by plenty of gun violence in my inner city neighborhoods in the Bronx and Brooklyn. In the aftermath of the tragic losses of our children and educators in Newtown, Connecticut, I wonder if we have gained any new knowledge. Apparently, we live in a country that values the freedom to own guns, even overly powerful ones like assault rifles. \u201cSecond Amendment rights\u201d are invoked as if our founders could predict the kinds of weapons that would be available to regular Americans today, even with the \u201cmilitia\u201d (local police forces) that we also have available to us.The Apostle Paul talks about \u201cnot having a righteousness\u201d that is his \u201cown\u201d and \u201ccomes from the law,\u201d but rather one that is \u201crighteousness [also translated \u2018justice\u2019] from God based on faith\u201d (Phlp. 3:9 NRSV<\/a>). Further, Paul again acknowledges that he hopes one can learn from the experience of suffering, even as one experiences \u201cresurrection\u201d \u2013 new life \u2013 like Jesus Christ. And again, I ask, what new knowledge have we gained from the awful experience of suffering in Newtown? Can resurrection \u2013 new life \u2013 come of it with regard to how we think about guns and gun violence in this country? Can resurrection \u2013 new life \u2013 arise amidst our children, youth and families?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Pressing On<\/strong><\/p>\n Paul does not end his exhortation to new life in light of suffering without reminding his readers \u2013 and us \u2013 that achieving new knowledge and new life is an ongoing process. None of us have \u201carrived\u201d at our goals for life, but goals we must have. For Paul, the ultimate goal, which he calls the prize, is achieving \u201cthe heavenly call of God\u201d that he perceives is available to him through what Christ Jesus has accomplished (Phlp 3:14 NRSV<\/a>).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Mother of Sandy Hook Victim Noah Pozner Targets Gun Violence<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nWe are not sure if he is released after writing this, or if this is one of his final letters. Paul, however, understands that the nature of his ministry was such that suffering and hardship were always just around the corner. After all, he and his fellow believers follow a Christ who \u201chumbled himself and became obedient to the point of death \u2013 even death on a cross\u201d (Phlp. 2:8 NRSV<\/a>). In many ways, Paul asserts, believers follow in Christ\u2019s footsteps and become willing to engage hardship for the cause of the gospel.<\/p>\n
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