“Success is simple.
Do what's right, the right way,
at the right time.
Someone once described an interview between a reporter and a bank president this way:
Reporter: “Sir, what is the secret of your success?”
President: “Two words.”
Reporter: “And, sir, what are they?”
President: “Right decisions.”
Reporter: “And how do you make right decisions?”
President: “One word.”
Reporter: “And, sir, what is that?”
President: “Experience.”
Reporter: “And how do you get experience?”
President: “Two words.”
Reporter: “And, sir, what are they?”
President: “Wrong decisions.”
Wow, that seems so true, that success only comes after many failures. But is there a way to circumvent all those failures? And would we recognize the method if we saw it?
In last Wednesday’s church update, I broached the subject of success. I asked what success is, how we would define it, and how we would know if we had achieved it. Then I offered my own definition of success (as I understand the Bible to define it). The definition I offered was:
Biblical success is a continually increasing conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. It is enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit, and it is marked by an ongoing pursuit of godliness and an ever-increasing manifestation of that pursuit in holiness of thought and action. It always achieves the glory of God the Father.
Later that day I asked Nicole whether she had read the update and what she thought of my definition. She said that she thought the definition was accurate but unhelpful. It offered an ideal, but a lofty and primarily theoretical ideal. Not to say, of course, that Christians are not to seek a continual conformity to the image of Jesus Christ, but simply to observe that the process of sanctification includes many ups and downs and few people, if any, can claim lifelong success.
Fair enough. In a sense, I agree. And with that in mind, I would like to offer today an alternative definition of success, one that I believe is consistent with the definition above and is simultaneously achievable and demonstrable in the present.
For this definition, I turn to the book of Proverbs. The book begins with an explanation of its purpose, to impart wisdom and instruction by which the simple may gain prudence and the young may gain discretion. In the first chapter, Solomon states that wisdom is knowable and understanding perceptible. He states that wisdom can be taught and received, and he creates a link between the reception of wisdom and one’s ability to live a successful life. Indeed, the underlying premise of the book of Proverbs is that a successful life may be built upon the reception of wisdom and the expression of it in one’s daily activities.
In Proverbs 2:5, Solomon states the purpose or goal of wisdom: discernment and understanding -- to understand the fear of the Lord and to find the knowledge of God. Using that as my starting point, I would like to suggest this new working definition for success:
Biblical success is understanding the fear of the Lord and manifesting that understanding in one’s daily thoughts and activities. The successful person is one whose pursuit of wisdom ends in reverence of Almighty God.
If this definition is a good one, then it would be wise to spend a moment thinking about Proverbs 2:5. This verse includes two parallel thoughts, one related to understanding the fear the Lord and the other related to finding the knowledge of God. This sort of literature often utilizes parallelism as a means of expanding, contrasting or emphasizing ideas, and I believe that, here, the second of these two phrases expounds the idea contained in the first phrase. Thus, one might say, the purpose of wisdom is to bring one to understand the fear of the Lord, that is, to attain the knowledge of God. In other words, a true knowledge of God will accompany the fear the Lord, and the fear of the Lord will accompany a true knowledge of God.
The Hebrew word translated here “understand” carries the ideas of discernment and perception, of observing, marking, and giving heed to. It is more than a mere intellectual knowledge, though it certainly includes that idea. It conveys the idea of recognizing and acting upon a fact. The word translated “fear” means precisely that – fear or terror -- and in respect to the Almighty God, communicates the ideas of respect, reverence, and piety.
So we see that the successful person is one who gives heed to the Lord as the Almighty, utterly holy, utterly righteous Judge of the universe. He or she is the one who recognizes that He, the Lord, is utterly unlike anyone else, in power and purity and preeminence.
The second phrase in this verse expands on the first and communicates that the successful person, by receiving and embracing wisdom, comes to an attainment or discernment of God’s character as He reveals Himself to be.
We could spend a great deal of time contextualizing this verse within the gospel message, and doubtless that would be a profitable pursuit, but today I think it is sufficient to recognize that the pursuit of wisdom that culminates in reverence for Almighty God is that which brings success.
I added to my definition above a quantifying or evaluative element: the manifestation of that fear in one’s daily thoughts and activities. It may have been redundant to do so. Is it possible that one should truly appreciate the Almighty and reverence Him and not manifest it? I doubt it is.
As I close, I ask myself whether this definition is helpful. Is this definition one by which I may evaluate my daily life? I believe it is. On a daily basis, at any given moment, I can pause and ask myself whether I am aware of Who He is and of who I am in relationship to Him. I can reflect on His character and ask myself whether the course of my thoughts and actions are consistent with one who calls Him Lord. To the extent that they are, to the extent that in the course of my day I manifest an awareness of His holiness and act accordingly, I can judge myself successful.
Do you agree? How would you define success? And how do you know if you have achieved it? Is there a way to circumvent all those failures?
“Then you will understand the fear of the LORD,
And find the knowledge of God.”
Proverbs 2:5
-- Christian Pilet
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