Redefining Success

Larry Anderson, former pitcher for the San Diego Padres, once observed, "If at first you don't succeed, maybe failure is your thing!"

Failure is an ugly word no matter what it describes. "Our crops failed." "She failed her licensure exam." "Their marriage failed." "His business was a failure." And yet, the Lord uses our mistakes as stepping stones toward spiritual growth. Failure can drag us down, or it can spur us on.

Jesus turned conventional definitions of success upside down. He said if you want to find your life, lose it. If you want to be great, be a servant. If you want a place of honor at the table, wash the feet of the other guests. He equated success with fulfilling the will of God, not impressing our fellow men.

As a young man, Saul of Tarsus amassed an impressive resume. Some of his accomplishments are listed in Philippians 3:5-6:

"Circumcised on the eighth day," Saul was born into a family that followed God's commands when he was barely a week old.

"Of the people of Israel," he traced his ancestry back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Descended from "the tribe of Benjamin," he belonged to the lineage of Israel's first king (Saul).

A "Hebrew of Hebrews," he loyally adhered to the distinctives of Jewish culture.

He was "a Pharisee"—strict and conservative, meticulous about God's laws and Jewish traditions.

"As for zeal, persecuting the church"—wrong, but enthusiastic about it! Saul watched with approval when Stephen was stoned to death. He launched "murderous threats against the Lord's disciples," throwing innocent men and women into jail because they dared to follow Christ (Acts 9:1-2).

"As for legalistic righteousness, faultless." Judging by outward appearances, none of his peers could fault his performance.

Saul climbed the ladder of success, only to find it was leaning against the wrong wall. He needed to learn that success isn't about what we do; it's about what God does—and God never fails.

Jesus confronted Saul on the road to Damascus and this proud man entered a season of profound brokenness. Blind, he had to be led around by the hand. Humbled, he listened carefully to the instructions of a believer named Ananias. After being baptized and having his sight restored, Saul went to the synagogues of Damascus and preached "that Jesus is the Son of God" (Acts 9:20). Dismayed by Saul's change of heart, his former friends tried to kill him. The persecutor became the persecuted; the hunter became the hunted. His zeal was still intact, but now it was redirected. His name changed from Saul to Paul, and his focus shifted from self to Christ.

Paul devoted the rest of his life to advancing the very church he once so strongly opposed. As a Christian missionary he experienced extraordinary suffering (imprisonment, beatings, shipwrecks, relentless criticism, and eventual martyrdom). And he experienced extraordinary influence (preaching to government officials, writing books that still endure 2,000 years later, shaping the course of Western civilization). It didn't matter whether others considered him a hero or a colossal failure; his goal was simply to know and serve Christ.

Paul redefined success so he could humbly say, "By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back" (Philippians 3:13, 14, The Message).

That's an attitude we all can adopt. Instead of gloating about our achievements or wallowing in our failures, we need to simply press on toward the goal.