Redefining Success

Success is something that each one of us desires in life.  I don’t think anyone wakes up in the morning longing for mediocrity.  The challenge is how we go about measuring success or the lack of it in our lives.  We live in a culture that we are consistently inundated with what success should be, could be and needs to be:

Lots of money

The right job

The right looks

The right influence or fame

The girl or guy in our life with the list above (until they lose it, then move on…)

There are many different “measurements” that we use to determine what success is and what a successful life looks like.  Even in ministry there are things that we are prone to measure success by: attendance, growth, being well liked, well known, amount of influence, ability to draw a crowd, etc.  The truth is that these things CAN be indicators of success, but the are not the sum total of what success is!

“Now a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.”

1 Corinthians 4:2 NLT

We are all managers of something.  Whether it is our own life, a major corporation, an athletic ability, a family, a ministry position, a part time job, going to college and getting an education…we all have been entrusted with things that we need to manage.  And just as Paul reminded the church in Corinth, a manager must be faithful!

Biblically, I believe there is one definition of TRUE SUCCESS: FAITHFULNESS.

Think about Jesus words in Matthew 25 in the parable of the talents.  The wealthy manager entrusted servants with different amounts of money to be FAITHFUL with the gift that was entrusted to them.  Those who brought a return (those who were faithful) the response of the master was “Well done, good and FAITHFUL servant.”

We can get busy chasing after so many things (like success itself), without realizing that we miss it when we are not faithful to what God has called us to.  I believe in reaching the masses.  I believe in using God-given influence to make a difference.  There is nothing wrong with big attendance.  There is nothing wrong with being well liked.  But when these desires overtake our desire to be FAITHFUL with what God has entrusted us with, it will be hard to find success.

My wife and kids may or may not remember what I accomplished as a pastor in ministry.  They will remember if I was faithful to them.  There are a lot of things that I could spend my time and energy on to achieve “success”.  But in remaining FAITHFUL to what God has entrusted to me in life and ministry, working hard to multiply and reinvest and grow what He has placed in my care…that is success!

TRUE SUCCESS = FAITHFULNESS