Welcome to the “Front Porch.”
It is in Philippians 3. Paul pulls back the curtain to show readers for generations to come something truly amazing.
It is not the only time Paul gives the readers amazing, unparalleled views of life and eternity. On one occasion, he took us up to the third heaven, into paradise, and revealed to us what the Christian home will be one day. That view was so phenomenal that the Lord does not allow him to describe what he saw, only to say that he saw it. Even then, the reader senses how beautiful heaven must be.
Late in his life, he carries us with him to the threshold of death, offering his final admonitions and words of encouragement to the young man he considers a son. He is as prepared as a man can be – he has fought a good fight, he has run a good race and finished it, and he has been as true as he knew how to be to his calling in Christ Jesus. His words in the fourth chapter of 2 Timothy will long stay with us, reminding us of the beauty of the ending of a Christian life.
Now, in the third chapter of Philippians, he gives us something few could ever give. He lets us see the secret of his own life. He shows us the mindset that makes him the rare Christian he is. Few could do that better.
In a way, his secret is simple: A man or a woman becomes a good, mature Christian much the same way one becomes a good artist, carpenter, musician, or professor. It takes certain habits and practices. It requires a rare work ethic and focus. It demands perseverance unlike any other endeavor, for this undertaking is a lifetime one, with all its peaks and valleys, and life’s mountaintops and foothills together.
What the apostle shows us is his one aim in life. It probably isn’t exactly what you think it is, though what you’re likely thinking is part of it. His aim isn’t merely getting to heaven, though he longs for heaven as fervently as any man who ever lived. If I’m at home in this body, he says, I am absent from the Lord. But if I can leave this tired, old body – with its scars from beatings and shipwrecks – then I will be home with the Lord, he says. He longed for that heavenly home.
But his aim is more earthly than heavenly, but not in a worldly sense. He can’t gaze up to heaven the way the disciples do when Jesus ascends and expect to complete the tasks set before him. So his aim is different from what we might expect.
His aim is toward “the mark.”
“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
But what is that “mark”?
Stay tuned.
Coach Steven Ray Bowen served as a teacher and basketball coach at Red Oak High from 1998-2012 and recently came out of retirement twice for teaching tours at Ferris and Waxahachie High Schools. He and his wife Marilyn (the “amazin’ blonde”) have slowed down some of their travels and reconvened in their evangelistic work with the Church of Christ of Red Oak at Uhl/Ovilla Roads, in addition to Coach’s work as a writer and author, including the working to publish “Crossing The Georgia Line” that ran in the Ellis County Press. Call or text (972) 824-5197, email coachbowen1984@gmail.com, and see frontporchgospel.com.