Defining Success -- v. 2.0

“Success is simple.

Do what's right, the right way,

at the right time.

Arnold H. Glasow

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

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