Success

“Set your mind on things above,

not on things on the earth.”

Colossians 3:2

 I have a thirteen-year-old son who wants to be an NFL football player. That’s great. It’s good to dream big. And if he keeps dreaming and works really hard, it may just happen. Who knows?

But this got me wondering how many high school football players go on to play in college and then in the professional leagues. I went online and discovered that the NCAA has compiled statistics on this very topic. They go like this:

• About 6.5 percent, or approximately one in 16, of all high school senior boys playing interscholastic football will go on to play football at a NCAA member institution.

• Less than two in 100, or 1.6 percent, of NCAA senior football players will get drafted by a National Football League (NFL) team.

• Eight in 10,000, or approximately 0.08 percent of high school senior boys playing interscholastic football will eventually be drafted by an NFL team. 

So, assuming he makes it onto a high school team, my son’s odds of making an NFL team are about one in a thousand. Okay then… it is extremely unlikely my son will ever make it into the NFL.

I suspect he would find this disheartening. For me, as his father, I admit it is a bit disheartening as well. I want my son to be happy and to feel that he has accomplished great things in his life. I want him to be successful. And, given how much he talks about it, I fear that he will feel that he has not succeeded if he does not make it into the NFL.

The reality of such statistics, however, has caused me to think more deeply about the idea of success. What is success? Can we define it? And will we know it if we achieve it?

If success is measured only by being ‘the best,’ it is clear that very few will ever be successful. Even those football players who make it into the NFL are still compared with others. Having beaten incredible statistical odds, they can still find themselves coming up short and being dismissed as failures. There is always someone who is better. And even if you are the best at one particular time, it is only a matter of time until someone better comes along.

The temptation then is to redefine what we mean by the word success. We may be tempted to say that success is only a matter of trying, and if one tries sincerely and zealously throughout his endeavor, he can consider himself successful. But this is clearly semantics and disingenuous. I don’t care how much a baker tries; if his pie tastes terrible, I will judge it a failure, and so should he. No, success must be more than sincere sustained effort.

But we needn’t wander. We Christians are blessed to have a God-given standard of success. We need not equivocate over the word. We can define it by a scriptural standard and then compare ourselves and our endeavors to determine whether or not we have attained or are attaining it.

But if that’s true, then why do Christians so often feel defeated and unsuccessful? Why do they wonder whether they are accomplishing what they ought to? Or wonder what it is exactly they ought to be accomplishing ? If the standard for success is clearly given in Scripture, why do we Christians so often live muddled lives?

I think the answer to those questions is twofold: First, some Christians do not know the God-given definition of success. It isn’t that God has not stated his definition; it is simply that some Christians have not heard it. Second, some Christians do not submit to the God-given definition of success. They know it, but they find it materially and temporally unsatisfying, and they choose a rival definition from the world.

So, today, I want to offer two things: a Biblical definition of success, and an encouragement to live your life in its pursuit.

So here we go…

I suggest this as a Biblical definition of success:

Biblical success for the Christian 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.

I will not attempt a full exposition of that rather verbose definition, but I think a few words of explanation may be helpful. First, success for the Christian in this life is a matter of engaging wholeheartedly in the process of sanctification. Clearly, sanctification is a work of God, begun and completed through the power the Holy Spirit, but that does not diminish our responsibility. We are told to abide in Christ. We are told to keep his commandments. We are told not to quench the Spirit.

Second, the great goal and purpose of our lives revolve around the person of Jesus Christ. If Christ is risen and is indeed God, then our day by day activities, thoughts and actions, must be evaluated in relationship to him as Lord.

Third, sanctification for the Christian is an ongoing process. We believers live between justification and glorification. And until the day arrives that we are taken to heaven or the Lord returns, we are to move forward in progressive sanctification.

Fourth, the goal of all things is the glory of God, and thus true success must always achieve His glory.

Fifth, and finally, this definition, ironically, does include effort. But it does not leave it there. It includes both effort and visible result. And it is not an issue of sinless perfection -- never making a mistake or falling into sin. It is an issue of the heart and of the intention of the soul. A righteous man falls seven times, but by God’s grace he gets up again.

And now, for the encouragement…

If you are Christian, God has given you His Holy Spirit to empower you to victor over sin and live a godly and righteous life. Praise God! And, He calls you to be faithful and to exert yourself mightily in the pursuit of a knowledge of Him and in the manifestation of love for Him through love for others. My encouragement to you today is to evaluate your standard of success and to evaluate the pursuits of your life to see whether they align with a biblical definition of success.

But perhaps you don’t agree with my definition. Fair enough. I would love to hear your definition. Send me an email. It would be great to start a conversation.

I hope my son will be successful in life. If he pursues and loves God, if he tells others about Jesus and the salvation that is to be had in Him, and if he submits in his conscience to the Holy Spirit, he will be successful. But if he does not, even if he is the MVP of a future Super Bowl, he will be a failure. I pray he will succeed.

“I count all things loss for the excellence

of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,

…that I may gain Christ and be found in Him

that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection….”

Philippians 3:8-10

                                                                    -- Christian Pilet