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Knowing Christ....


The knowledge of Christ that strives to make him known as Paul did by his life is possible only when we are willing to move on beyond ourselves.

In Philippians 3:10, when Paul talks about knowing Christ, he is not talking about a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. By this time (almost towards the end of ministry and life) Paul have had that knowledge. Nevertheless, he is talking about knowing Christ as a continuing process that culminates in attaining resurrection from the dead. I am even tempted to think that the expression "to know Christ" is a synonym for Christian life. Christian spirituality is a process of knowing Christ in increasing measure each day until we see him face to face in eternity.
This knowing of Jesus requires rejecting everything that stands on the way of intimacy with Jesus. Raimondo Panikkar, a leading Christian theologian once remarked: "To arrive at God, we should not stop at us." That means if we are on a journey to know Christ, we should explore beyond ourselves. Paul seems to be doing that. He wrote: "I Consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish..." (Phil. 3:8). This knowledge of Christ is at a cost. That is to lose everything that stands on the way of that knowledge.
Egoism is the greatest enemy of this knowledge. Egoism is the pre-occupation with oneself. In this thinking, the self become paramount in ones thinking. This is when I am at the centre of my thinking, and I strive to become the focus of attention. Such a pre-occupation with one's self hinders knowing Christ. That is why Panikkar's words become meaningful: "To arrive at God we should not stop at us." The knowledge of Christ that strives to make him known as Paul did by his life is possible only when we are willing to move on beyond ourselves.

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