Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. (2 Co. 13:5b-6)
Success and failure must always be judged by God’s standards, not the culture’s standards. It is nearly axiomatic that we default to the standards we know best, and usually they are the standards set by the world surrounding us. In our high pressure world, they usually include size, range, monetary value, sustainability and all the other objective measurements by which we make assessments.
If we applied those same criteria to the ministry of Jesus, we would discover that, in the eyes of the world, his ministry was not very successful. Large numbers of initial “clients” went elsewhere when his teachings did not match their expectations (Jn. 6:66). He did not cater to the tastes of those most likely to ensure his future. His language was often politically incorrect. His loyalties to people who were ill-equipped to carry out his cause would seem to have been a detriment. At the end of his ministry, Jesus had only the Twelve and a group of women who were deeply loyal to him, and one of them was a betrayer. By the time he died, he had only a single garment, a seamless robe (Jn. 19:23).
If you’ve given something up for the sake of Christ, let it rest at that
So what is success, and by whose standard is it to be judged? In quantitative things, Jesus’ ministry was decidedly below the line. Yet in influence, his ministry reached farther and longer than anyone else in the history of the world. This does not mean that “smallness” is better; but it also does not mean that “largeness” is better, either. People fail in prosperity as well as in adversity. Sometimes the one who is the least qualified in terms of eternal values receives the most recognition in our bent world, and the one with the greatest virtues receives none. You’ll find occasions when you are bypassed and someone else will get the glory. Don’t be offended. This was Jesus’ word to John the Baptist, “Blessed is the man who is not offended in me.” If you’ve given something up for the sake of Christ, let it rest at that. But always remember, regardless of what you have given up for his sake, Jesus promised, “Amen, I say to you, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age…and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
In the end, motives are one of the most important things in the Christian life. God will judge us by our motives as much as by our works or results (1 Co. 4:5). We can be blameless before God even though not faultless if our motives are right. This, in the end, is success—not by the world’s standards, but by the only standard that matters!
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