Cont’d…
Wrong Measures of Success
Sadly, many young workers today measure their success in ministry by earthly criteria, like the vehicle they drive, the house they live in and the position they have in their church or organisation. A student told a Seminary teacher friend of mine that God has not blessed him because he rides a motorcycle rather than a car. Some get very angry when they are deprived of earthly perks while others are given those.
Often people angrily leave an organisation or church because they are not given a promotion that they think they deserved. Many of them ruin their futures because of rash steps taken after the disappointment. All the teachings that Jesus gave about what our true treasure is are thrown out of window. We say that we believe in the inspiration of all scripture, but we refuse to believe statements of Jesus like Mark 9:35: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” It is natural to be upset when we are overlooked for a promotion. But biblical Christians address those human feelings with biblical values and assure themselves that God will look after them and give them the best life possible.
Many Christians workers today are destined to unhappiness because their ambitions are too influenced by the celebrity culture. Sadly, many of God’s servants are not only unhappy but also angry at being deprived of what they think they should have. Of Jesus’s twelve disciples only Peter, John, and James are mentioned favourably after the Gospels. But there is nothing to say that the others, except Judas, were failures.[10] We hear speakers challenge their audiences saying, “You can all be leaders.” I wonder how biblical that is! Several Christian mothers would pray that their son would come first in class—a slot available to only one; or that their daughter would get into the school soccer team—which has only eleven slots. Not everyone is called by God to be a leader or to be famous. How much damage we do to people by pushing on them aspirations that are not God’s will for them.
But everyone who does the will of God is significant in God’s eyes and will be rewarded in heaven accordingly. We have a strong sense of purpose and significance when we know that we are aligned to the programme of the Lord of creation which will end in eternal triumph. There is no uncertainty there, no fickle crowds who will cheer a celebrity one day and jeer him the next. We will be contented people if we have a strong sense of what our eternal destiny is. God’s servants learn to be content whatever their lot (Phil. 4:11-12). They know that, if they are doing the will of God, they are living the best possible life because the will of God is perfect. So they are satisfied people. Contentment is the greatest wealth that one could have.
The obedient don’t need to be upset that they don’t measure up according to some earthly systems of measuring significance. They are geared to a higher system of measurement. They have a had a vision of the glory of God and that has enraptured them so that their passion is to do everything for God’s glory (1 Cor. 10:31) and to do that to the best of their ability (2 Tim. 2:15), with God’s help (Phil. 4:13). Our push for excellence is not motivated by earthly considerations, but by the grand vision of the glory of God.
Some of the great missionary heroes of the church were brilliant people who could have gone to the top of the social ladder if they had stayed in their home countries. But they left all of that to go to the unreached. Some were brilliant preachers or scholars. And if they had stayed at home, they would have preached to large congregations or taught in prestigious seminaries. Instead they spoke to about three or four people each Sunday for many years until the gospel broke through and people responded. Some saw hardly any fruit during their lifetime, but they opened doors for others who reaped the harvest of their labours. Today some would say those people were fools, or that it was a huge waste of talent!
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