Weekly Thought – June 2, 2015
Fred defined success as the ratio between gifts given and gifts used. He saw the personal nature of this measurement. He refused to use wealth, position, or status as gauges for attaining success.
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Success, A Slippery Slope
Our society is permeated with the success syndrome. Recently, I heard a young motivational speaker proclaim, “Fake it ‘til you make it!” He meant to establish an image of success and then work the daylights out to get there. Somehow this seems like pedaling fast to catch up with yourself.
If we let others define our success, it is truly a slippery slope. If we follow Christ’s example, then we simply go about doing good. Once a young preacher said to me, “I can be happy just being a man of God, but that isn’t enough for my family… it isn’t enough for my board… they want me to be successful and make the church successful.” Heartbreaking, wrong-headed thinking.
I suggest to any Christian who wants to be successful he explore scripture and find a model of someone who focused totally on being successful. I can name five or six who operated with this motivation – and they all failed or were cursed. Remember the man who offered the apostles money for their spiritual gift. Maybe he intended to help people, but he wanted the credit instead of giving it to God. The apostles wisely said, in effect, “Go to Hell!”
Mother Theresa said she would not accept any honors because it took time away from her work. She did not say it was wrong for her work to be recognized, but only that it was a distraction for her. Caring for the dying was more important than receiving the Nobel Prize. She knew inner success.
Breaking Psychological Barriers
Roger Bannister did more than run the first four-minute mile in history. He broke a psychological barrier. Almost immediately others started doing what hadn’t been done before. They, too, broke the four minute barrier. Training didn’t do it. The time span between Bannister and the others was noticeably short.
Leaders need to recognize and break psychological barriers for their people.
One of the greatest I have seen is the power of the church to show people who believed they couldn’t find peace see what life can be when caught in the web of His grace. Christ broke the ultimate barrier: He rescued us from death and gave us entry into life eternal.
This week think about: 1) What is my greatest success recently? 2) How have I devised my own definition of success? 3) Who models psychological barrier breaking for me?
Words of Wisdom: “Leaders need to recognize and break psychological barriers for their people.”
Wisdom from the Word: “Get dressed for service and keep your lamps burning;” (Luke 12:35 NET Bible)