Success

People talk a lot about success in ministry.  It has become perhaps the primary conversation for Christian leaders over the past few decades. The sheer amount of content covering this topic points to its popularity.  The very idea of success in ministry has permeated so deeply the conversations of Christian leaders over the years that it has now become the opening line, the introductory paragraph, the greeting so-to-speak in many of our interactions with other ministry leaders. 

Think about it – how has your church been growing?  How many are you running now?  I heard you are doing big things now?  Social media shows your ministry is rocking now! 

These are just a few of the salutations we encounter in many of our ministry conversations with friends and cohorts.  Everything is about success.  More pointedly, everything seems to be about our definition of success.  But what if our definition of success does not align with God’s? 

Success drives us.  For many reasons, human beings are propelled by and drawn to success.  Success is all about accomplishment, and accomplishment is all about acquisition.  When we complete something with effectiveness, we receive something we desire. 

Now that I’ve offended some of you, let me state this very clearly:  There is NOTHING wrong with success.  In fact, I believe God wants us to be successful (insert too many verses to list in a short blog post to support this).  The big idea here is what success means to us.  And in order for us to understand what success means to us, we have to consider what matters most to us.

Here’s where we hop on our own figurative counselor’s couch and answer one big question:  what matters most to me?  Do I value clout over character?  Do I ascribe to the lofts of personal acclaim over the acknowledgment of a God who delivers every perfect gift in my life?  Do I want others to think I am successful, talented and capable?  Do my efforts point people to ME, instead of HE?

These are a few hard questions we all have to regularly ask ourselves when we serve in ministry.  Why?  Because we all struggle with this.  It’s called pride, and it’s where we want people to see what we hope people think about us.  If you have found yourself ever wrestling with any of these questions, or even just brushing up against one like them, I would like to extend a warm welcome to you – welcome to the club.  We all work through these, and that is where I want the challenge to be joined by some encouragement.

What matters most?  Simply put:  God and people.  Our success in ministry is not highlighted by the platform we stand on, but the people we serve.  It is not tethered to our fame, but to our faithfulness.  It is what God does through us.  Read that again, because it does not say “what we do”, but “what God does” – that’s the kicker there.  Whatever we don’t turn into praise will eventually get turned into pride.

God does not define our success by our FAME; He defines it by our FAITHFULNESS.  In the same way, God does not measure our distance from Him by our sin; He covered the distance with His Son.  So, relax.  Your reward may not be in the form of more Instagram followers, personal clout, ministry fame or a variety of other earthly blessings.  Your reward will be the eternal significance gained from the impact of serving people with the love of God.  Stay faithful.  Keep the real definition of success in mind as you serve, and God will give you sustained ambitious contentment to continue the work He puts before you.