I’ve had far too many encounters with dogs. I love dogs but only on my terms and far too many times I’ve had to deal with dogs when I wasn’t expecting it. There was the time my friend’s docile dog bit me. There were the handful of times dogs have chased after me on a run. There was the time I was touring a home for sale only to find a dog in the attic. There was the time I was visiting someone’s home only for their dog to run at me and bite my foot, thankfully covered by a sturdy cowboy boot. On those terms, I don’t like dogs and I now look out for them.
In Phil. 3 Paul calls us to “rejoice in the Lord” but then contrasts that call immediately with, “Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers”. Who are the dogs, the evildoers, and how are they on the attack? Surely they are the ones telling Christians to be less holy and have a little more fun sinning. But, nope.
The key to knowing who the dogs are and how they bite is to hear what Paul says next: “look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision…” Paul just brought up the idea of circumcision and said there are evildoing dogs performing circumcisions that he considers merely mutilating flesh. Paul is hard core mocking these dogs because they believed by their circumcision, or works generally speaking, they were making themselves righteous before God. Paul says, no, your works are not merely worthless but evil.
There are two helpful points to note from this text. First, it is surprising that the dogs are not irreligious people. They are not people saying, “Go sin the day away!” They are people saying, “Stop sinning so much! Be more holy!” This means sometimes the worst influences in our lives or the worst religious leaders could be those most loud about you being more holy. After all, Jesus’ fiercest opponents thought he was not holy enough. We are prone not just to rebellious sin but to highly religious-sounding, spiritual-sounding ideas that amount to nothing more than mutilating us. They mutilate us by leading us away from Jesus. How do you know when you encounter the kind of dog Paul is talking about? You know when someone is leading you, even subtly, to put your confidence for acceptance before God in yourself rather than in Jesus alone.
Before we touch on the second point, remember that all of this is following Paul’s call to “rejoice”. An indicator that the teeth of a dog are sinking into us is a lack of joy, depression. Where is your soul depressed? Where is joy elusive? Maybe there you are not resting in Christ alone. Maybe there you need to stop working and rest.
The second of two helpful points to note from this text is that to be a Christian is to have a backbone. In the church I think we often think Christians are those who are nice at all costs, who are spiritual doormats. But Paul and Jesus often get very stern, especially when the Gospel is on the line. Increasingly our American culture is moving from being a healthily tolerant culture to one that demands we accept any and all ideas. Like Paul here, Christians need to have a backbone.
This where get our backbone: Paul says is it not them who are holy, acceptable, and worship God but we who are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God. We actually know God. We actually eternal life. We actually live in the Holy Spirit. What a surprise to these highly “religious” dogs.
But why do we have life in God but they don’t? Because we glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Having a sturdy Christian backbone does not come from trusting in your works or performance. It comes in throwing your resume in the trash and receiving the resume of Jesus. Jesu lived, died, and rose so that you could rest in him and in him die and rise. You need nothing less than Jesus and you need nothing more than Jesus. Jesus came for you and loves you. Glory in Christ Jesus, rest in Him, and put no confidence in the flesh.
