Don’t be afraid of the dung

Unfortunately, today’s first reading is slightly truncated in at least some editions of the Lectionary, cutting off the last half of Philippians 3:8

I even consider everything as a loss
because of the supreme good
of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

There it ends, but verse eight continues.

For his sake
I have accepted the loss of all things
and I consider them so much rubbish,
that I may gain Christ

This last part is especially vivid in other translations

and I count all things but loss
for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:

for whom
I have suffered the loss of all things,
and do count them but dung,
that I may win Christ,

Those responsible for designating the readings may have had good reasons for cutting off the verse, but we should take this opportunity to remember that we must be very careful when we skip over anything in the Scriptures – especially those parts that make us feel uncomfortable.

In this case, it may not just be that we don’t like to use unpleasant words like "dung." Consider what St. Paul is talking about in this passage: he has many reasons to feel good about himself – his belonging to God’s Chosen People, his parentage, his education, his piety, his impeccable morals – and, as he now sees it, it’s all garbage, rubbish, refuse, excrement... dung.


These are not the sorts of things that the gurus of “self-esteem” would like to hear.

We ourselves may not like hearing them either, yet we must embrace hard sayings such as these, for as we struggle with them, we learn truths that are desperately important to our spiritual lives.


In this passage, St. Paul is not getting down on things or getting down on himself out of depression, masochism, or some neurosis. His point is that Christ is – and must be – the very most important thing in his life: nothing else can come close. Nothing is as wonderful as Christ, nothing is as beautiful as Christ, nothing brings happiness and love as perfectly as Christ.

St. Paul is not really denigrating these other things; he is merely putting them in context. Nothing in life – even the things that make us feel good about ourselves - nothing can compare with Christ and St. Paul would never let them get in the way of whatever Christ wanted him to do.

We should not be afraid of the hard sayings of Scripture. We should not be afraid of wrestling with any passage. Nor should we be afraid of letting go of anything that would really keep us from what Christ wants for us – because what he wants for us is more wonderful than anything.