Paul has just sung a song about Christ's sacrifice, then illustrated it by sharing about himself, Timothy, and Epaphroditus. Then, without warning, the tone shifts: watch out, watch out, watch out! It's uncomfortable to criticize celebrity Christians, and I wrestle with when it's worth doing. But notice that Paul does not hold back when he describes the so-called Christian experts who taught that Gentile Christians needed to get circumcised, eat kosher, and observe the sabbath to be fully accepted by God. First, he contrasts the joy they have in Jesus with the joylessness of the rule enforcers. Second, these leaders thought they were "in" with God. But Paul calls them "dogs." It's the derogatory term they used for unclean Gentiles. He's saying the people who want to make you clean are unclean. Third, these messengers said they were righteous, but Paul says they are evil workers. Fourth, Paul engages in clever wordplay, calling their circumcisions a more honest name: mutilation. God doesn't want to mark our bodies, but our hearts. Finally, he hijacks their use of circumcision, and gives the word its true meaning. It describes the people who are cleansed by Spirit-filled worship, faith in Christ, and humility before God. Finally, Paul pulls out the scoreboard. He knows the false teachers will parade their resumes in an effort to convince the Philippians they can be trusted. So he showcases his own elite credentials. If you want to follow someone who followed all the religious rules, Paul has outdone them all. He's the valedictorian. Paul doesn't want them to be suspicious of every Christian leader. But he is modeling how to decode false religious language. Just because someone comes in the name of God, claiming to have a sure-fire way to be righteous, doesn't mean they have anything to do with Jesus. It might mean they are trying to sneak past our defenses and steal our joy. When I was fundraising, I talked to one of my donors. She told me, "I've read through the Bible every year for ten years. But this year I stopped, because I was forgetting that God loved me whether or not I did that." It's not that she didn't love Jesus or the Scriptures. But she realized that her performance was getting in the way of being in God's presence. And she'd rather have joy than an impressive spiritual accomplishment. Paul felt the same way. In the next line, he will drop the hammer: his perfect record was a loss compared to Christ. But for now, Paul wants us to be filled with joy, and suspicious of anyone who would steal it.