Watch Out for Dogs

Are you someone who would consider yourself highly talented?

To keep it spiritual, maybe you wouldn't say "talented," and instead you would say something like, "God has given me several gifts I love to express."

The point is you're good at certain things. You know how to lead a small group. You have the capacity to speak on a stage. And everyone looks to you because of your natural knowledge and ability.

Even if you don't feel like you have any of those gifts, I can almost guarantee there are some areas in your life where you are highly competent, and others wish they only had a fraction of your ability.

These areas are invaluable, can be used to serve others, but they can also be points of great vulnerability.

A Reason to Boast

In Philippians 3:1–6, Paul warns believers not to place their confidence in outward religious credentials. He urges them to rejoice in the Lord and then cautions them against teachers who insist that external practices are necessary for righteousness.

As if establishing his credentials, Paul says in verse four, “although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more.” He then goes on to list seven credentials that, in the Jewish world of his day, represented the highest markers of religious legitimacy.

• Being circumcised on the eighth day showed that he was born into a faithful Jewish family that followed the covenant requirements of the law from the very beginning of life.
• Being of the people of Israel meant he belonged to God’s covenant nation by birth rather than conversion.
• Being from the tribe of Benjamin carried historical honor because Benjamin was one of the tribes that remained loyal in Israel’s divided kingdom and the tribe from which Israel’s first king came.
• Calling himself a “Hebrew of Hebrews” emphasized that he maintained strong cultural and linguistic ties to traditional Jewish life rather than being heavily influenced by Greek culture.
• As to the law, being a Pharisee meant he belonged to the strictest and most disciplined movement devoted to careful obedience to the Torah.
• His zeal was demonstrated by persecuting the early church, which he believed threatened the purity of Israel’s faith.
• Finally, being “blameless” with respect to righteousness under the law meant that, by the visible standards of religious observance in his community, his conduct could not be faulted.

These combined credentials set Paul up as someone with a strong heritage, a strong identity, lasting devotion, and a track record of performance. If anyone, as Paul says, had a reason to boast in his human ability, it was he.

Still, despite his obvious ability, Paul places no confidence in his flesh, and his life serves as a pattern for you to follow.

No Confidence in the Flesh

Like Paul, you have certain abilities. Throughout your life, you've used these abilities for great good. But maybe you're at a spot where you're tempted to lean on them as a crutch.

You find it difficult to pray and depend on God. Each time you come up against an obstacle, rather than seek God's advice, you naturally turn to your own human abilities to fix the problem. As a result, you have this string of unresolved challenges in your life. You keep thinking, I need to figure these problems out, but nothing changes.

This is by God's design. There are many things in life that you can fix with human ability. You can grow your business, provide for your family, and build a nice career, but there will come a point where there is a "God gap" in your life, a gap between your human ability and the place you are supposed to go.

Maybe it's an unresolved relationship that you've tried to fix for years, a health crisis, or some personal insecurity you can't seem to overcome.

If this is where you are at, here's what the apostle Paul would say to you: “Watch out for dogs.” When Paul uses this line in Philippians 3:2, he is warning believers about teachers who were insisting that Christians must follow Jewish laws, especially circumcision, to be fully accepted by God. As F.F. Bruce notes,

In calling them dogs, he was perhaps throwing back at them a term of invective by which they described uncircumcised Gentiles. ^[1]

In Jewish culture, “dogs” was a harsh insult for those seen as spiritually unclean. Paul intentionally flips the term and applies it to these teachers because their message distorted the gospel by shifting trust from Christ to human religious effort.

The dogs Paul was referring to were those who told the Philippian believers they could approach God in the power of their own strength.

How Do Dogs Show Up Today?

Dogs can show up in your life in many forms.

Sometimes they come in the form of your best friend who assures you that "you've got this" without God's help. Sometimes they come in the form of false teachers who are deliberately preying on your insecurities. Maybe they speak from a stage and try to convince you that just enough human effort will put you in the right position with God.

If you only speak in tongues, then you'll be a real Christian. If you only adapt this lifestyle practice, then you'll move into a higher level of intimacy with God. Or if you sell your home and become a missionary, then God will be pleased with you.

Dogs, dogs, and more dogs.

Human ability is great, but as Paul says in Philippians 2:7, “But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.”

I don't know where you're at today, but maybe there's something you're trying to do in your own strength. If you're honest with yourself, you've been trying for far too long.

It's here I challenge you to take this morning, pause, and listen for the voice of Jesus. Start with scripture and position your heart to hear from God. Talk to him as you would a father and say,

God, you know the desires of my heart, but in these next few minutes that I spend with you, would you align my desires to match your desires? Show me what I cannot see in my own faulty human ability. Help me to block out the noise of the dogs that tell me I can make it in my own strength, and show me this day how utterly dependent I must be on you for everything.

^[1]F. F. Bruce, Philippians, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2011), 104.