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Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Defining Success
I am
spending time these days watching little league baseball at an instructional
level. The idea is to instruct the players, helping them to develop as players
and grow in their understanding of the game. In this league, success is not measured
by how good the players are,or by wins and losses, but by how much growth the
children experience as players. Coaches do not field a team designed to win as
much as they seek to give players opportunities to play in a variety of places
and roles, teaching along the way.
At the
major league level, an environment where some teams have vastly more resources
than others, success should be defined by how well teams do with the resources
they have. By this measure, the Tampa Bays Rays are highly more successful than
the New York Yankees because they win with 15 percent of the resources. Now
that is an achievement. That is success.
Is the
billionaire who has inherited wealth more successful than the person born in
poverty who achieves modest success as a professional? Should teachers be
measured by how smart their students are or how much they learn?
People
tend to define success in terms of wins and losses, but the biblical mind takes
a different view. In the Bible the widow's pittance is a greater gift than the
bags of gold of the rich which are but a small portion of their wealth. The most successful nation has no standing army and
lives in the shadow of the great empires of the day, but finds its security in God. The seeds of greatness are
a people enslaved. The greatest king is a young shepherd boy. The word of God
is not found in palaces but on the margins of society. The Lord of all is
born low in a manger.
This
brings me to my question of interest. How should we define success in the
church? Should it be size? Spectacular
facilities? Dazzling programs? Fine preaching? Quality of music? These things
are valid measures of success, and it is fine to use such standards to evaluate
ourselves. But if we ask ourselves how successful we have been, the more
important questions are, have we loved God? Have we practiced mercy? Have done
we justice? Have we walked humbly with God?
We are
well to remember that Christians have rather unconventional measures of success.
We have many markers
that identify us as a congregation at CMC, such as church documents and
statements, architecture, art or the lack thereof. But my favorite is the
signage over the doors entering the sanctuary. Take a look next time you are
here.
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