Has success become our god?

Romans 12:3-8 (NRSV)

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

4 For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function,

5 so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.

6 We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith;

7 ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching;

8 the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

The success syndrome is an infection that has spread through Western culture, so its prevalence even within our churches, though distressing, is hardly surprising. Our culture’s insistence that everyone, from childhood up, should be able to succeed at all times and not to do so is disgrace has had a severe impact on our church community. The idea that success is available to everyone if they just try a little harder is a malady that has inflicted considerable stress not only within our society but also in our churches. Perhaps the most damaging result of this belief is that people feel unworthy after attempting to achieve success at tasks for which they are intellectually or emotionally unsuitable.

The fear of failure and a successful performance at all costs becomes the goal and the focus on “success” will often limit our goals to those that are easy to measure rather than to those of greater and more long-lasting value. For example, a seemingly admirable goal to increase membership within the current year by five percent often masks other more pressing needs. Such an objective seems to offer all kinds of potential activities to translate it into achievement. However, such a limited goal frequently results in our reluctant to better assess the quality of our potential candidates, determining how they might serve the larger goals of our congregational needs, or how we, as a group, can adequately serve their expectations. Numbers become our goal and often blinds us to other services that might forward His kingdom here on earth.

Our quest for success often results in our overlooking the wisdom offered by the Apostle Paul that each individual has unique gifts and we are challenge to utilize them and not try have members do things that they are not really equipped to do. Reflection should lead us to accept that our calling is NOT to success but to faithfulness, regardless of our chosen role within the church. We need to accept that the Spirit will guide us to build His fellowship and our part is not to let the appearance of success deceive us; but to maintain fidelity to the particular ends and roles we feel prompted to fulfill. Amen.