Text: Philippians 3:12-16
Title: The Tyranny of the Past, Present, and Future
Thoughts:
tyranny |ˈtirənē|noun
cruel and oppressive government or rule : refugees who managed to escape Nazi tyranny | the removal of the regime may be the end of a tyranny.
• a nation under such cruel and oppressive government.
• cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power or control : she resented his rages and his tyranny | figurative the tyranny of the nine-to-five day | his father’s tyrannies.
• (esp. in ancient Greece) rule by one who has absolute power without legal right.
Perhaps, it seems a bit of an overkill to have a tyranny of the past, present, and future. Nevertheless, many of us live under the demanding control of such tyrannies everyday.
As I wrote in a previous blog (Forgetting the Past…I Press On), I was absolutely shocked to find the apostle Paul, an invincible saint in my eyes, struggling with the shameful actions of his past. Describing his persecution of the church in Phil. 3:6, he uses an active verb that refers to his past as a present action (cf., aforementioned blog). Not even the mighty apostle could break the recurring horrors of his past.
Nevertheless, Paul refocused his attention towards forgetting the past and pressing on toward his future. As actively as he remembered, he forgot. In his present state, he was neither what he was, nor was he what he should be. Nevertheless, he was pursuing to overtake, chasing to capture. He was in transition.
Before Paul was a state of perfection which he had not yet reached (Phil. 3:12). Neither in his past, nor in his present had Paul ever reached perfection. And, in the end, his perfection will not occur until he meets Christ in glory. However, he charged forward in an attempt to become all that Christ had intended for him to be. He says, “I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:12).
Either of these three, our past, present, or future, can become an ill tyranny for anyone of us. To live under the horrible dictatorship of the past is to live a death sentence for what was. Presently we live with the consequences, whether positively or negatively, of our past choices. Yet, what we do today determines who leads tomorrow. Will it be what was or what we desire to be? If it is the former, then the future becomes yet a continuance of tyranny. If it is the latter, you live within the grasps of life the way God intended it.
The past is a horrible dictator.
The present is a transitional leader.
The future is either a kingdom of euphoria or infamy…and this is determined by who rules in the present.
Application:
How have you experienced the tyranny of your past, present, and future?
Is today’s leadership a tyranny? (i.e., Are you living under the oppression of your past or future?)
What is active in your life at this moment: Remembering or Forgetting?
Prayer:
Father,
How liberating it is to know that You have given me today. With this day, I am given the opportunity to forget my plaguing past and pursue perfection in You. My past makes for such a wicked master. Yet, the glimpses of a life where You rule and reign offer me the hope and joy of a peaceful kingdom. Lord, I desire to be “lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” I want to become what You have desired me to be.
In Jesus’ name. Amen.
