If I were to ask you, “What is success?”, how would you answer? Would your answer include something tangible, like possessions or gadgets? Would it be quantifiable, like income or position? Would it be relational, like praise and affirmation from others? Would it be generational, as in legacy or notoriety?
We all live with a guiding metric for success. What we believe to be true success guides, motivates, and drives us. Our decision-making paradigm comes from our understanding of success. Even our perception of our own worth and value comes from what we believe success to be. Our lives are shaped by our understanding of success.
Though we often quantify success through pragmatic lenses, the Bible decidedly paints a different picture of success. God’s idea is so basic that even a child can understand it and anyone can attain it. God’s definition of success can be reduced to one word—faithfulness.
The standard by which God judges our lives is not the praise of others, the prosperity we experience, the legacy we leave, or the power we wield. God’s standard of success is faithfulness in whatever is in front of us. Paul’s goal in the ministry was that he would “be found faithful,” (1 Corinthians 4:2) as he ran the race of life for the sake of Christ (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). Though Peter initially was faithless, after being spiritually restored, he called Christians not only to suffer with Christ, but also to “keep on rejoicing” for being found worthy to share in Christ’s suffering (1 Peter 4:12-14).
Jesus gives a warning and an affirmation of true success in Matthew. Jesus warns that success cannot be quantified through doing good things, such as casting out demons and performing miracles (Matthew 7:21-23). Instead, Jesus affirms and praises the good and faithful slave who was “faithful with a few things, [and] I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master,” (Matthew 25:21). Jesus defines success as faithfulness.
Learning God’s definition of success has been deeply significant in my life. As a younger man, I was allured by the pragmatic metrics of success. I wanted to obtain the affirmations of positions, titles, and prestige. I wanted my life to matter, and I functionally believed that meaning came from other’s validation that I did things well.
God used Revelation 2:10 to change my entire perspective on success. “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Simple yet profound, Jesus provides the singular metric of success—faithfulness. As C.S. Lewis describes this type of faithfulness, “It is not your business to succeed, but to do right: when you have done so, the rest lies with God.”
Pastors, your heavenly reward is not based upon church attendance or budget growth. Mothers, your heavenly reward is not dependent upon the outcome of the adults your children become. Senior adults, your heavenly reward doesn’t hinge on whether you’re still able to physically serve the Lord as you did in the past.
Christian, just be faithful with what’s in front of you. God does more than we can imagine through even the smallest steps of faithfulness.
What is success? It’s faithfully doing whatever God places before you, or as Elisabeth Elliot once encouraged, “Sometimes life is so hard you can only do the next thing. Whatever that is just do the next thing. God will meet you there.”