by Justin Li
What is “successful” ministry? Is it running a VBS with well-behaved children, going out to campus evangelism with a conversion resulting every time, and reading our Bibles every day? All those examples above are good but not necessarily how God would define success. The world evaluates success and worth by what they have or say they can accomplish. Even as Christians this type of thinking is pervasive. As we delve in God’s Word we see this type of thinking stems from a lack of fear of God and His Word.
“Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:7-8)
Joshua lived a life of obedience, faith and dependence on God proving that a life of obedience to God and His Word bears great rewards and blessings. Of the 12 spies sent to Canaan, only Joshua and Caleb trusted God, returned and were the only two to enter the promised land. Furthermore, Joshua served as a faithful aide to Moses for 40 years and he was the one to ultimately lead the Israelites to the promised land, not Moses. Joshua trusted in the strength and promises of God despite the uncertainty of the challenging paths to come. But no more clearly do we see Joshua’s faithfulness than at the end of the book where he urges the people to forsake their idols and remain faithful in the covenant that God made with them at Sinai, saying, “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
We see from the example of Joshua that God’s definition of success is not necessarily defined by the direct fruits that you see from your work, but in our FAITHFULNESS in what we have been called to do.
Oftentimes we focus on how well we measure up to the world’s standards of success and forget to concern ourselves with our ability to stay faithful to God’s Word in everything that we do, regardless of the outcome. In The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) we see that both the man that was given five talents and the man with two received exactly the same reward, indicating that the master’s grading system is based on faithfulness and NOT results (v23). However, we see that the unfaithful servant was dealt with harshly and called wicked and slothful. This means as students it does not matter whether we have a 2.0 or a 4.0 GPA if we were faithful in the stewardship of what we have been called to do. What good is the slothful student with a 4.0 to God if he spent the entire time studying while ignoring his quiet times with God and church events, while constantly being anxious the entire time? Rather, God is pleased with the faithful student who truly values what the Word of God has to say. The world demands results. What God demands is faithfulness. Whose grading system will you use today?
This flows into every other area in our life as well. For campus evangelism, what matters is our faithfulness in proclaiming the power of the Gospel boldly, not conversion (Romans 1:16). For parenting, what matters is faithfully teaching our children the Word of God every opportunity that you get, not necessarily salvation. For the upcoming Mission Bowl tournament, what matters is faithfully being ambassadors of Christ on the football field. Like the Hebrew midwives who feared God, what God has to say should take precedence over whatever anyone else says (Exodus 1). God looks at the one who trembles at His Word (Isaiah 66:2-3).
“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (Ecc 1:13-14)
At the end of the day, what are we most concerned with? Take some time to think about it. We see God defines success in our faithfulness in what we have been called to do. I can’t wait until the day when we can see Him as he is and hope to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”
We can do no more. We must do no less.