Lessons from the Dung Beetle

Recently I was reading Philippians and came across these verses:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 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, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith-- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. (Philippians 3:8-10 ESV).

Paul is talking about all the things he had before he came to Christ-how he was highly regarded by all of his peers and well on his way to "making it". However he concludes his list with these verses. He lost everything that he had in order to follow Christ counting it "rubbish". The King James renders this word "dung" which got me to thinking -- about dung beetles.

Where is your synagogue?

Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. ~John 12:42-43~

I think this is one of the saddest verses in the Bible. These men had seen Jesus and his works as well as had eyewitness accounts of other miraculous things that He had done. They had already gotten over the first hurdle of unbelief and the hardening of hearts but still they did not fully commit to Christ. These people are not willing to give up things in their life to follow Jesus. In other words, they love the glory of man rather than the glory of God. However, notice that it was fear that drove them to this. We tend to think of the glory that comes from man as pride or selfishness but it is also fear.