So back to Paul, who seemed to understand that he wasn’t the answer to his own problems. He used phrases like: “no confidence in the flesh”, “whatever was profit I now consider loss”, “I consider everything a loss”, “I have lost all things”, and “I consider them rubbish.”

Paul is saying all the things that he thought were important in life are actually “rubbish.” Let me talk about this term “rubbish” for a moment, since, in my unscholarly opinion, it doesn’t quite translate correctly from the Greek to American English.  I’m sure most of us don’t use the word “rubbish” when we are out with our friends.

“Hey, did you see her outfit?”

“YES! There is no way those shoes go with that dress.  Plus, it’s after Labor Day.  It’s rubbish.”

This term is the Greek word “skybalon” which means “refuse or dung. This depressing word means rubbish and muck or many kinds: excrement, rotten food, bits left at a meal as not worth eating, a rotting corpse. Nastiness and decay are the constant elements of its meaning. It is a coarse, ugly word implying worthlessness and repulsiveness.” Source: Zondervan (Just in case you were wondering, excrement means pooh-pooh.)

This word is not normal “Bible lingo”.  In fact this is the only place “skybalon” is in the Bible. So when Paul used this word, there probably was a little shock factor involved. Kind of like when someone says “cr*p” in church.

Paul wasn’t using false humility, which is actually a form of pride. Nor was he making self-deprecating comments because he was in some kind of depression. Depression and pride are products of the pendulum of life, of running after the next-thing. When Paul made those statements he was making a declaration from the heart that said, “All the next-things that I ran after my entire life mean nothing compared to the one-thing.” The last part of his statement is the most impacting, “I consider them (cr*p) that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”

Is there any part of your life that you have put to much stock in?