Success is one of the most often used but ambiguous words in our language. Depending on the situation, success can be defined differently. So, when it comes to your life or your work, how do you define success?
As Jesus’ ministry grew in popularity, more and more people started following Him. At one point, He stopped and addressed the crowd challenging those who were following Him because they thought He was a magician or a healer. They followed Him, but their motives were wrong. Jesus was more concerned about quality than quantity.
The same thing happens today. Lots of people are attending churches, but are they really following Jesus? How should the church define success?
When the church makes equipping God’s people for ministry its priority, success will be redefined. Success will be viewed in terms of effectiveness rather than attendance. This is a redefining that many church leaders resist. It’s easy to count people; it’s hard to quantify effectiveness.
So, what is real success? Success is equipping and empowering people to invest their lives glorifying God. They might not fit into the existing ministries of the church, but their lives will be pointing people to an authentic relationship with God. This is when many of the problems the church faces today will start to diminish. When people move from attending to engaging, they will invest their lives and resources in things that matter to God.
It’s easy to count people, but is the number of attenders really the same as the number of committed followers? In Jesus’ day, it wasn’t. Some things never change. Think about it!
How do you measure success in your life?
