SMBC Blog

23 September 2024

The Sweet Smell of Success

Matt Vander Heiden

Several years ago now, I was talking to a newly enrolled student at the Bible College I was working at in Portugal, when I asked him a question I often asked new students, “What do you hope to do once you’ve finished studying here?” He answered quickly, saying “I’d like to have a successful ministry back in my hometown.” This was not the sort of answer I usually got to that question. And it got me thinking about whether success in ministry is a good thing to be striving for. 

As I’ve spoken to people about this idea, it’s become clear that some don’t think it’s wise to talk in these categories, or even think in them. It’s often argued that aiming for a successful ministry provides a fertile breeding ground for pride, something all Christians should want to avoid. As well as this, it can also cultivate a competitive culture, or at the very least a culture of comparison, which can easily lead to an ‘us versus them’ mentality, quickly undermining the unity we have with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Having this aim can do more harm than good, it is argued.

While these are certainly dangers, aiming for a successful ministry need not to lead to these things. In fact, I would argue that aiming for a successful ministry, by biblical measures, will actually lead us away from those things. The response to the potential dangers of pride and unhealthy competition is not to avoid things that could lead to them, just in case we fall into those traps. This might lead us to avoid a lot more than we think!

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"It’s often argued that aiming for a successful ministry provides a fertile breeding ground for pride, something all Christians should want to avoid."

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Rather it should be to seek to understand what success in God’s economy looks like and ask him to help us aim for that. Because whether we think in these categories or not, all of us are aiming for success in the ministry God has placed us in, even if we mightn’t be aware of it. Especially, if we consider what the alternative to success often is.

So, if we’re aiming to have a successful ministry, it is important to define what that means according to God’s view of success. A view the Bible makes clear, is profoundly counter-cultural.

In our world success may be viewed through several different lenses. One of those lenses is the idea that success can be measured in terms of numbers – the bigger the profits the more successful the company, the more championships the more successful the athlete or team, the more accolades the more successful the artist. It can be easy for us to fall into this trap as Christians. The bigger the church, the more successful it must be. The more people the better it must be.

We’ll often ask one another “How many people go to your church?” as if that’s a measure of how good a church is likely to be. Or maybe it’s not about overall numbers as such, but rather number of “souls won”. The more souls won, the more successful the ministry. During my time in Portugal I heard about a number of mission organisations that chose not to send missionaries to Portugal because they weren’t seeing enough new converts.

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"In our world success may be viewed through several different lenses. One of those lenses is the idea that success can be measured in terms of numbers."

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We certainly want people to come to faith in Christ. We want lots of people going to church. However, the Bible makes it clear that sheer numbers is not what God is ultimately after. It’s not the be all and end all. God wants his people to be a people who reflect his character (cf. 1 Peter 1:15-16), a people who are being conformed more and more into the likeness of his Son, the Lord Jesus (Rom 8:29). And he wants this, so they can reflect what he is like to the world, and therefore, attract others to him.

As Paul puts it in Philippians 2:14-16 “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.”

The biblical witness would tell us that God would rather a church with a handful of people living as he would want them to live (reflecting his character in loving unity), than thousands of people more concerned with growth in numbers than growth in godliness and character. As God says to Isaiah, “These are the ones I look on with favour: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word” (Isa 66:2).

Success in our world is all about the now. We live in a “what have you done for me lately” culture. You can be successful one minute and a failure the next – if the numbers drop or you don’t reach goals or perform as you’re expected to you are no longer successful, not matter how successful you were previously. Success in God’s economy, on the other hand, is focused on the long term, on getting to the end.

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"Success in God’s economy, on the other hand, is focused on the long term, on getting to the end."

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In Acts 20:24, Paul says to the Ephesian elders, “I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me” (NIV). The writer of Hebrew exhorts his reader to “run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb 12:1). And in 2 Timothy, Paul, reflecting on his life, write “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7).

According to the Bible, it’s not ultimately how many people start the race, but how many finish it. To be clear, you can’t finish the race if you don’t start it, but simply starting is not all there is to it. So, a successful ministry is one that is not only concerned with seeing people brought into the kingdom, but making sure that we finish the race, while helping others to do so. Therefore, discipleship and keeping one another accountable is essential to success as God views it.

In our world we compete with others for success. And because of this, the success of some will often mean the failure of others. In God’s economy, achieving success (living the way he wants us to) is a corporate activity. While the church is made up of individuals, there is a profound sense in which it exists and functions as a single entity.

Paul says, for example, “if one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it” (1 Cor 12:26). In this passage, Paul illustrates the corporate nature of the church by is comparing it to a body. In other passages he refers to the church the bride of Christ (Eph 5:27; cf. Rev 22:17), and as a temple (1 Cor 3:16; Eph 2:21). Peter uses similar language, calling God’s people a “spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). Success in God’s economy doesn’t come at the expense of others, rather, it can only be achieved as God’s people work together, with the same goal. 

In our world success is often measured by how one performs in relation to others. Success is a relative thing. In God’s way of doing things, success is measured against an objective standard, which is set, not by the way others perform, but by the example of Jesus.

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"The Bible doesn’t know success, as God defines it, without prayerful dependence on him."

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As noted above, Jesus is the one God’s people need to become more like. He is the one we are to imitate, most notably in his love for, and obedience to, the Father. And this is something we all need to do. It is, as already noted, a corporate activity. And so, it is this that Christians need to spur one another on towards. It is this that we are to keep each other accountable to. It is this that is to form the heart of our discipleship.

Jesus final instructions to his disciples in Matthew’s Gospel make this clear, “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matt 28:18-20)

Another thing to note, is that success in God’s eyes can often look like failure in the world’s eyes. If God’s goal with his people is to conform them to the likeness of Christ, so they can be who he made them to be and draw others to him, this will necessarily involve a process. A process that will sometimes be painful.

Peter likens suffering for Christ to the refining fire of gold (1 Peter 1:7; 4:12). Just as the impurities in gold (that which is not gold) are burnt off by refining fire, leaving a more pure gold as a result, so God uses suffering for the Christian to show that their faith is genuine, and in the process gets rid of those things that should not be part of it. Suffering, and perceived failure in the world’s eyes, are used by God to make his people more like he’s made them to be.

In all of this, the most vital ingredient is prayer, prayerful dependence on God. Prayer that is always asking God to allow us to see things as he sees them, to value what he values and to desire what he desires. Prayer that recognises that God is in control and that his will and way of doing things is the best way. Prayer that asks God to continue to increase our faith and trust in him. Prayer that thanks God for allowing up be part of the growth of his church in the world. The Bible doesn’t know success, as God defines it, without prayerful dependence on him.

So, let me encourage you to prayerfully strive for success in the ministry God has put you in. Not success as the word defines it, but rather success as God defines it.

Matt Vander Heiden
SMBC Lecturer in New Testament