What is success?

You really have my home group members to thank for this post and I sincerely hope they don't mind me using their thoughts here. I feel they are valuable to share primarily as they should provoke responses in you which may lead to deeper thought and questioning. I had been thinking about this already but just this evening, the subject was discussed once again.

In our group we have a lovely man who has just retired from a big part of his working life within the medical research sector. He kindly shared with us some of his retirement presentation which he had recently given to his team (via zoom). His title and question to the team he was leaving was 'what is success?' ... what does it look like to you? How do we measure it? These are good questions worth thinking about and discussing with others.

Success often goes hand in hand with achievement. I would suggest it also makes us think of hard work; dedication and the pursuance of something we are striving for. It may be that we only see success when we receive recognition or accolade for whatever it is we have been working so hard for. Maybe it therefore heads towards status, bringing our pride into play. 

Is success linked to winning? If 8 athletes compete in the 100m final at the Olympic Games, is the winner of the gold medal the only one to really succeed? Yet they all successfully ran the race and crossed the line.

It's easy to get caught up in the drive for ultimate self-promotion, the recognition that affirms to us feelings that we are valuable, worthy of notice and praise. That we should be 'known' publicly and that ultimately we therefore have a purpose and a deep seated satisfaction making us feel secure.

But is this all topsy turvy? There are very few people whose names are known publicly (for positive reasons) when you think about it statistically in relation to the worlds population. Does that mean the rest of the population aren't successful? No, of course not. I'm not decrying the fact that many people who are known in the public domain for having achieved amazing things truly deserve their honour, however we may just have our scales of balance somewhat weighted in only one direction.

What about success in terms of overcoming a disability, or learning to cope with it? That may prove much harder than painting a masterpiece. What about the survival of false imprisonment or abuse ... is it successful to emerge from such horrors and use those experiences for the good of others? If your chosen path in life is to become a carer, and you spend 40 years plus working in a nursing home specialising in dementia care, doing this with dedication and love ... is that success? You may never get on the honours list but you are a true servant of success in the best way possible.

It doesn't need to be about us individually, or about us being 'first' at all. Success is about living out to our fullest potential in God's way. If we constantly strive to be noticed, first, promoted and praised, with this being our primary objective, then we have things the wrong way round. I read this recently:

Leonard Bernstein, the late, legendary conductor of the New York Philharmonic, gave an insightful answer in an informal interview. Following a televised performance, one admirer asked: “Mr. Bernstein, what is the most difficult instrument to play?” With quick wit and without even a thought he replied:

“Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm . . . now that’s a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony.”  

It's quite telling isn't it? I'm assuming that the second violinist would not have felt as successful for the very fact that they were second and not first. Less noticed, less known maybe.

Former president Ronald Reagan apparently kept a plaque on his desk in the Oval Office which read: 

"There's no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit."

Maybe that's the key! So what is God's way and what did Jesus say about all this? In Matthew 18 the disciples came to Him and asked Him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus answered "unless you... become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven... whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." In Luke's account (ch 9) Jesus says "it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest." In another passage, Jesus taught the crowd around him explaining that if they / we want to become His follower (which is what we should all see as ultimate success), we are to give up our own ways, take up our cross daily and follow Him (Luke 9v23).

Jesus is the ultimate example of what success should look like. He could have come with armies and demanded obedience, forcing all to recognise Him not only for who He was (and is), but for all that He could do and command ... yet it was not the time for that. What He demonstrated for us to follow, was servanthood. It's quite a big pill to swallow if we're honest, because who doesn't like feeling boosted by affirmation and recognition? There's nothing really wrong with that if it comes as a consequence of your living according to Jesus' example. The wrongdoing is if it is the compelling motive for what you're doing and trying to achieve ... Jesus certainly had no time for those who were all about self-promotion and status. He railed on those who strutted around expecting to be noticed. Outwardly so beautiful but inwardly "full of dead men's bones" (Matt 23v27). He himself when taking on the servants role of washing the disciples feet (John 13), gave a remarkably clear example for us to follow.

Success is to serve. Success is to take the position of a child. Success is to work from our insides out and not the other way round. Success is to do all of this without worrying about whether a single other person may ever notice it. Success is self denial. Success is to continue doing this never expecting an earthly reward, it’s a daily discipline.

Let's use these words of Paul to Timothy as a benchmark for our success in this life, so that when our time comes to die, we can also say them with confidence ... "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (2 Tim 4v7-8)

Ingrid x