What does it mean to be successful?
Pastor Joe Fuiten,
Welcome Mark Lamb and Betty
Neighbors
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2 Let Israel say: "His love endures forever." 3 Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever." 4 Let those who fear the LORD say: "His love endures forever." 5 In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. 6 The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7 The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies. 8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man. 9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes. 10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they died out as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off. 13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the LORD helped me. 14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. 15 Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things! 16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high; the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!" 17 I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. 18 The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. 19 Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. 20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter. 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. 22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; 23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. 24 This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. 27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. 28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. 29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. (NIV)
It really feels like time to get down to business. School has started and so has the rain. In Seattle that means play time is about over and it is time to get serious. For most people, September is far more the start of the year than January 1st.
I started this message around the theme of success. Unfortunately, success is not a very good goal. It reminds me of a veterinary doctor that I interviewed one time. I asked him why he became a veterinarian. He said he didn’t know. He just knew that he wanted to be some kind of a doctor. That must have been frustrating to him because his only goal was to be a doctor. It apparently didn’t matter whether you operated on kids, dogs, or mice, as long as you were a doctor.
The problem with seeking success is that it seldom takes you where you want to go. It is much better to seek to be the right kind of person because success is much more likely to follow that. If he try to be wise and good, you have a better chance at being successful than if you set out to be successful. Success is usually a by-product rather than an end product. This actually came out in a book done by Thomas Neff and James Citrin, “Lessons from the Top.” They wrote,
We came into this project with
the belief that the most successful leaders focus on the things that create
great results, more than on the results themselves. This idea turned out to
be more true than we ever imagined. The traditional performance measures of
financial, market share, or stock price results can be a leader's primary focus
in the short term. But great business leaders, those whose organizations are
enduringly successful, achieve their results by focusing on the "right
things" day in and day out.
If you focus on the small pieces, the big piece takes care of itself. Back in the days when I did most of the pre-marriage counseling myself, I liked to emphasize becoming a complete couple in body, mind, and spirit. Every couple about to be married is pretty dialed in on the physical part. They understand what it means to be a couple in the physical sense. Most of them are pretty good at understanding that you need to have common goals, interests, and desires. That is where the unity of mind comes from. Some of them get the third part. That is spiritual unity. This is where you share common values, activities, and interests as it relates to God himself. As you pray together and work together in the Lord’s work, you achieve spiritual unity. When you bring all three of these areas together (body, mind, and spirit) you have success in marriage. Leaving out any one of these three areas leaves you limited to that degree.
What is true of marriage is actually true in life itself. You want to be a complete person who is doing well in all three dimensions in life. If you are doing well in the physical issues of money and job and end up all alone with a blown up family, can that be success? On the other hand, if you have a great family, but have no job, no house, and no food, that can’t be success either.
My friend Kent Redfern says that one of his goals as a leader is to get people fully alive before they die. If you are not fully alive, can you claim success in your life.
The writer of Proverbs was drawn to the components when he wrote, in Proverbs 2:1-16
“My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, 2 turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, 3 and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, 4 and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, 5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD and find the knowledge of God. 6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. 7 He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, 8 for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair-- every good path. 10 For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11 Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. 12 Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse, 13 who leave the straight paths to walk in dark ways, 14 who delight in doing wrong and rejoice in the perverseness of evil, 15 whose paths are crooked and who are devious in their ways. 16 It will save you also from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words…”
Where do wisdom and knowledge take
us? What is success and how can it be
achieved? My definition of being
successful is being all that God wants us to be in the three important arenas
of life. Knowing what God wants from
us is the trick.
Knowing God’s plan never comes about accidentally. The knowledge of God’s plan only comes to those who look for it. In Jeremiah 29:13 it reads, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” You must be fully committed to knowing and doing God’s will. You will know his will by prayer and study of the Scripture.
Knowing what God wants is the first part. The second part of success is the positive application of natural and spiritual gifts to the will of God as we have come to discover it in prayer and study.
The will of God can be expressed
in general terms.
We can help ourselves here by considering the basics that are common to every Christian person. I believe the Christian life can be built around four key areas.
Our first purpose is learning to fully love God. Our second purpose is increasingly love others by acts of mercy especially for the poor, bruised and broken-hearted. The third purpose is refreshing my faith by regular acts of devotion such as prayer, fasting, worship, and the spiritual disciplines. Finally, I join with others to build the church through giving, involvement, and evangelism. If you have been around here any length of time you know those priorities by the major letters—GOMU. (God, others, me, us)
95% of your joy and fulfillment in life will come by successfully addressing those four key areas in your life. The other 5% probably will come from those things which are uniquely yours.
Even though your life is lived out
there, the things that happen in here (in our hearts) are the key to
success. Out of Psalm 118 come two great
verses that we read earlier. 5 In my
anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. 6 The LORD is
with me; I will not be afraid, and 24 This is the day the LORD has
made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O LORD, save us; O
LORD, grant us success
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