Americans are impressed by more, big, and famous I regret that I spent too much of my life measuring my own ‘success’ as a pastor by the number of people I preached to on Sunday morning. But, I am not an oddity in that pursuit. Many measure their success by their level of compensation, their title, or by how many friends they have on Facebook. Success is often a numbers game, but on Sunday evening I met a man who completely re-defined the assumptions about what it means to live successfully. I’ll call him Dan.
God placed a love for the Afghan people in Dan’s heart 9 years ago. In an encounter with the Holy Spirit, he was deeply impressed, as a 26 year man, to take up the mission of bringing the Gospel to a land held in the grip of the most radical form of Islam. For the last 4 years, he and his wife, along with their three little girls, have lived in war zones of Afghanistan, quietly building friendships and praying for the spiritual darkness around them to be dispelled by the Light. It’s an exhausting assignment, full of sacrifice, and emotionally wearing. He’s been warned to flee numerous times, told that armed Taliban are standing outside of his home at night, and a close associate was gunned down in his car. None of the typical measures of success apply! Converts are few. Money is not a factor. His name cannot be published! Yet, he serves, and with great joy!
Don’t make a leap to a false conclusion. We need not all move to Afghanistan and live in mud homes to be good disciples who are ‘successful!’ We are all called, as disciples of Christ, to total obedience right here, right now. Our individual success is measured by how we respond to the Lord’s call, by our faithful embrace of the mission He gives to each one of us. My call is to lead and care for a congregation at a church in Washington, NJ. God will judge me a success if I am diligent, if I do that work for His glory. Circumstances beyond my control may lead to greater numbers of people in that church, but 200 or 2000 in the building are not His measure of success.
To be a success, disciple, there is a foundational question that demands your answer: what does the Lord ask of me? If you cannot answer that with any kind of certainty, you will be vulnerable to discontent and deception. You will chase meaning and purpose in ways that cannot ultimately provide them. Why? Because you will confuse ‘self-fulfillment’ with God’s approval! Much of what we label ‘success’ is just a way of making ourselves feel better about who we are and what we do. However, for the disciple of Christ, nothing can replace knowing that we are squarely in the center of the will of God. Dan is a man at peace with God and able to serve in a difficult assignment without much in the way of traditional rewards because he knows that he is doing what the Lord wants him to do at this time in his life!
Here’s a word from the Word. May the Spirit cause it to own you.
"Listen to me, all you in distant lands! Pay attention, you who are far away! The Lord called me before my birth; from within the womb he called me by name. He made my words of judgment as sharp as a sword. He has hidden me in the shadow of his hand. I am like a sharp arrow in his quiver. He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, and you will bring me glory.” (Isaiah 49:1-3, NLT)
Are you His servant?
Will your thoughts, words, and actions today be framed by the desire to “bring Him glory?”
_______________
No comments:
Post a Comment