Call It Garbage

Philippians 3:8–9, 

For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him …

“Rubbish” is a good English word. That’s the way that the ESV and NASB translate the interesting Greek word skybala — only used this once in the entire Bible, in Philippians 3:8. The NIV and NLT go with “garbage,” another fine word. 

But I grew up reading the KJV. 

Following the Geneva Bible (1557), the King James Version (1611) translates skybala as dung. That’s right. Dung. That’s the oldest English translation of the original word. (The only modern translation that still uses that one, as far as I know, is the Christian Standard Version.)

We should get stuck on the translation, though, because it’s more an image that matters. The idea is a big heap of trash. Garbage. Refuse.

It reminds me of a time when I working for my dad doing drywall. We were finishing a restaurant remodel in Raleigh — a nice restaurant that stayed in business during the construction. They didn’t open until the late afternoon, so we’d come in early and knock out our work.

But, as it turns out, our access to the space was through the back, by the dumpsters. I don’t know how often you’ve spent time by the dumpsters of restaurants, but it’s not very pleasant. The smell is horrid. Every morning when I came to that job, I had to hold my breath until I hurried past the pile of trash bags stacked high and sometimes spilling over the dumpster into the asphalt parking space, leaking a strange liquid I’d have to tiptoe around.

Garbage. Refuse. Crap. That’s what it was.

All the same stuff that, just the night before, was presented beautifully on plates and set at a high price. On the other side of the restaurant, in the dining room, at another time of day, when it was dinner, the arrangement of this food was impressive and compelling.

But from the angle where I saw it, by the dumpsters, the next day, not so much. 

And that’s what Paul is saying about his own righteousness. All the things that he worked to achieve, all the gifts that he once boasted in, when he met Jesus he was taken around back and shown the dumpsters. He was shown what it all really amounted to. 

Paul saw his own righteousness for what it was — a big heap of garbage. Refuse. Dung. That’s what it accumulated for Paul, and the same for us. Our own righteousness is as pungent and useful as a heap of garbage. Why would we ever trust in that?

Oh to be …

… found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith (Philippians 3:9, KJV).