True Success
When you look ahead to your future, if you’re normal, you want to have a successful future. In fact, the desire for success drives many of our most important decisions. Something that will make us successful, we do, and something that will make us unsuccessful, we try not to do. We live our lives in such a way as to lead to success. There is nothing wrong, of course, with wanting to be successful. However, the world’s view of success and the biblical view of success are often opposite each other.
In 1966, about a year before he died, the brilliant physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer said, "I am a complete failure!" This man had been the director of the Los Alamos Project, a research team that produced the atomic bomb, and he had also served as the head of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. Yet, in looking back, he saw his achievements as meaningless. When asked about them, he replied, "They leave on the tongue only the taste of ashes."
The number of people who commit suicide after experiencing the fame and fortune of worldly success is astonishing. Multimillionaire George Vanderbilt killed himself by jumping from a hotel window. Lester Hunt, twice governor of Wyoming before being elected to the U.S. Senate, ended his own life. Actress Marilyn Monroe, writer Ernest Hemingway, and athlete Tony Lazzeri represent a host of highly influential and popular people who became so disenchanted with earthly success that they took their own lives.
Our Daily Bread.
Alexander the Great was not satisfied, even when he had completely subdued the nations. He wept because there were no more worlds to conquer, and he died at an early age in a state of debauchery. Hannibal, who filled three bushels with the gold rings taken from the knights he had slaughtered, committed suicide by swallowing poison. Few noted his passing, and he left this earth completely unmourned. Julius Caesar, ’staining his garments in the blood of one million of his foes,’ conquered 800 cities, only to be stabbed by his best friends at the scene of his greatest triumph. Napoleon, the feared conqueror, after being the scourge of Europe, spent his last years in banishment.
G. S. Bowes.
All of these men I’ve just told you about where people that the world would call successful. They spend their whole lives working toward these goals and they reached them, and yet something was missing. The fact is that they were chasing after what they thought was success, but it really wasn’t. In the race for success they ran hard, they ran with perseverance, and they ran well. The trouble is that they were running on the wrong road. They were running toward the wrong finish line. If you’re running in the Boston Marathon, it doesn’t matter if you can run the 26 miles in 2 hours, if you aren’t running in the right direction. You may have the fastest time, but you haven’t arrived at the right goal. The same is true with life. It doesn’t matter how hard you work at success, what you sacrifice for success, if what you’re chasing after isn’t really success. So, it’s important to determine from the start of your race, to make sure that you’re running toward the right goal. If you’ve already been running for awhile, you can evaluate where you’re running and make some corrections in your course if that’s necessary.
So, then if we’re going to find true success in life, we must determine what true success consists of. We must see what the Bible considers to be true success. We can see an example of a church that thought that they were successful, but were really unsuccessful. Based on their condition and what Jesus commanded them to do in order to become successful, we can form a definition of true, biblical success.
Revelation 3:14-22: 14 "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Laodicea. This is the message from the one who is the Amen – the faithful and true witness, the ruler F10 of God’s creation: 15 "I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of my mouth! 17 You say, ’I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18 I advise you to buy gold from me – gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. And also buy white garments so you will not be shamed by your nakedness. And buy ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. 19 I am the one who corrects and disciplines everyone I love. Be diligent and turn from your indifference. 20 "Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends. 21 I will invite everyone who is victorious to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. 22 Anyone who is willing to hear should listen to the Spirit and understand what the Spirit is saying to the churches."
I. True success is not found in being materially rich, but in being spiritually rich.
The church in Laodicea was satisfied because they were wealthy in material things.
In fact, one of the things Laodicea was known for was its banks.
Money is important. We all need money to survive. God is not condemning them
because they have money. God is condemning them because they are finding their security or success in financial wealth instead of finding success in spiritual riches.
So what are spiritual riches? Jesus counsels them to buy from him gold refined in
the fire, but what does this mean? Let’s look at some of the things the Bible says about
riches.
Matthew 6:19-21: "Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten
by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in
heaven where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe
from thieves. Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be."
This is a matter of perspective. I don’t believe that Jesus is saying not to work hard
to provide for yourself and for your family. In fact, the Bible encourages people to work
hard.
Proverbs 6:6, "Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones. Learn from their ways and be wise."
Colossians 3:23, "Work hard and cheefully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people."
So, Jesus’ admonition is not that they shouldn’t work hard. Instead, he was teaching them, and he wants to teach us, that working hard and gaining material things is necessary, but it should not control us. It should not be our focus. It certainly is not a measure of success.
I once heard a story about a very rich man who was also very godly. He prayed and asked God if he could please take some of his riches with him to heaven. Since God knew he had been faithful all his life, He made an exception to the rule and said he could take one trunk and put in it anything he wanted. The man was trying to think of the way to get the most value, because he knew paper money would be worthless in heaven. He decided that since it’s what backs the paper money, he would fill the trunk with solid gold bricks. He filled the truck and put it under his bed until he died. About 20 years later, he died and on the way up, he grabbled the trunk. When he got to heaven’s gate, St. Peter stopped him, looked inside the trunk, and said, "You can’t bring that in here. It’s against the rules." The man explained to St. Peter that God had made a special exception for him, and St. Peter sent an assistant to check with God and make sure that the man was telling the truth. The assistant came back and announced that, sure enough, God given this man permission to bring in a trunk. St. Peter said, "Well, I guess you can bring it in, but I don’t know why anyone would want a trunk full of pavement."
Rev. 21:21b, "And the man street was pure gold, as clear as glass."
This story is humorous to us, but it is true of so many people, even people who are believers. So often we spend our whole lives pursuing things that will be of no value for eternity. The things that are of the most value to us here, the material things, will be of the least value there.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15, "Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone’s work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames."
We can spend our whole lives amassing things, but like with the greedy farmer of
Luke 12:15-21, we are gathering it in vain, because it cannot last. Only the things we do for the Kingdom of God will last. When we bring someone who is lost to Jesus, that will last. When we lead people into a close, intimate place of worhsip, that will last. When we build up the church by encouraging, loving, teaching, correcting, caring, that will last.
When we build our own relationship with God through Bible study and prayer that will last.
According to the Bible, there are three things that we can "invest" in the Kingdom of God. Time, Talent, and Treasures. It’s not only money that God is concerned with. It is just as bad to waste your time and your talents as it is to waste your treasure. EAch of us is accountable to God for all three of these things. We must equally invest all three of these into things with eternal value. If you give all of your money to God, but then spend all of your time for yourself, that is not good enough.
As I heard many times while I was a student at Zion Bible Inst. "Only one life, ’twil soon be passed. Only what’s done for Christ will last."
The world would tell us that the first characteristic of a successful person is financial prosperity or material possessions, but the Bible says that the first characteristic of a successful person is that they value and invest in those things that will last for eternity.
II. True success is not found in prominence or position, but in displaying righteousness and integrity, with humility.
A source of pride for the people of the city of Laodicea was the fine wool garments that were produced there. In fact, it was probably this which led Jesus to tell them to buy from him white garments so they will not be shamed by their nakedness.
Let’s consider for a moment what is meant here.Clothing is very often a symbol of position or rank. The king is know by his yellow robe. the navy captain is know by his uniform. The doctor is known by his white coat. The minister is known by his white collar or by his suit. Obviously, Jesus is not trying to tell the church that he doesn’t want them to dress nicely. Jesus was getting at the deeper issue. He was against what the fancy clothes symbolized: Pride of Position.
The church of Laodicea was satisfied to hold their positions and look great to the people around them. In fact, they probably looked down on the "lesser" churches that had not yet advanced to their great position. They are like this emperor:
THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES... (used as an illustration)
Well, the people of Laodicea are like the emperor of that story. They believe that they are splendidly arrayed with dignity and honor in front of the people. The people are even convinced too, because they have been deceived. But Jesus, just like the little boy in the story, is not deceived. He sees them for just what they are: pitiful and shameful. And just like the boy in the story, Jesus is about to reveal the truth of their nakedness to everyone else.
So, when Jesus admonishes them to buy a white garment from him, surely this is the solution to their problem of nakedness. But what does he mean? What is the "white garment" he wants them to buy from him.
Let’s look at a few times the Bible uses the term "white garment" to determine what he means here.
Revelation 7:13-14, "Then one of the twenty-four elders asked me, "Who are these who are clothed in white? Where do they come from? And I said to him, Sir, you are the one who knows.’ Then he said to me, ’These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and made them white."
Revelation 19:7-8, "For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She is permitted to wear the finest white linen. (Fine linen represents the good deeds done by the people of God."
From these two verses, we can see that the one of the biblical meanings of the white robe is purity or righteousness. We live in a world that emphasizes power and position and prestige at any cost, even at the cost of personal integrity. Our business world, and even some of our churches, are so competitive that in order to "succeed," the world tells you that you have to step on people on the way up. It has become very difficult, the world would tell you impossible, to achieve "success" without compromising your standards. You just have to tell a little lie, or deceive just a little. Or the cost of your being promoted in position may be that some other people are treated unjustly.
Let me assure you that if you were to read the Old Testament prophets you will discover that God did not only punish Israel for idolatry, but for social injustice. Men and women are made in the image of God. When you wrong a man, you have wronged God.
It is not only in business practices that our society loves to compromise for the sake of image. Our society tells us, Image is Everything. Often, in order to preserve our "image" or our "reputation" among friends, we are tempted to do something that we know is wrong. Why are we so concerned about image or position? Because our society has told us that this is a sign of great success. But the Bible says that in order to be successful, you do not need position or popularity, but righteousness and integrity. Instead of being concerned with what others think about you and how others view you, you ought to be concerned with how God sees you.
Of course, there are times when positions are necessary. But even then, the way you perceive your position, or the way you use your position can be the key to whether or not you are truly successful. To illustrate this, let’s read aother passage in which the Bible talks about a white robe:
Luke 9:29,31a, "As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothing became dazzling white.... They were glorious to see."
In this event, the Transfiguration, the disciples had the opportunity to see Christ in all His glory. And I will suggest that this aspect of the white robe can be applied to the problem in Laodicea. This robe was a symbol of the Glory of God, and so is the robe of white that God charges Laodicea to buy.
Instead of exalting ourselves through our positions, we must glorify God through them. We must so radiate God’s glory that people do not see our achievements, but only see God working through us. Now, you may be tempted to thing that this has no application to you, but is only for a pastor, but that is not so. No matter what your position is, whether any position in the church, or even a position outside the church,
Christ must be glorified in everything that you do. The world will try to tell you that you will only be successful when people recognize your accomplishments, but the Bible says that you will only be successful when you ascribe all the glory for your accomplishments to the God who enabled you. This point could be summed up in one word: humility.
Matthew 23:12 "But those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
The second indicator of success the world will say is having a distinguished and powerful position or a good image at any cost, but the Bible teaches us that the second great mark of success is humble righteousness.
III. True success is not found in the wisdom of men, but in spiritual insight.
The city of Laodicea was known for its medicine. Specifically, they had a miracle
oinment that could be rubbed on the eyes to improve eyesight. This ointment was another source of pride for the people, and Jesus used it as an example of another way in which they were failing. They thought that because of their great knowledge and wisdom in the area of medicine that they were successful. No doubt, they thought they were wise in all areas of life.
Jesus, however, tells them that they are blind. Jesus’ remedy for this failure is to buy from him an eyesalve so that their eyes would be opened. Again, we must asked ourselves what the eyesalve represents. What kind of sight is Jesus talking about here?
Again, we can explore some Scriptures that talk about sight and begin to see what Jesus is aiming at.
John 4:35,36: "Do you think the work of harvesting will not begin until the summer ends four months from now? Look around you! Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready now for the harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life."
If it was four months away form the time for harvest, Jesus could not possibly have been talking about the harvest of physical crops like rice or grain. Just in case there was confusion, Jesus explained that the kind of harvest he was talking about was a spiritual harvest of souls. He was telling these people to stop looking at their own needs and concerns and to allow God to show them the great need around them. His message was the same to Laodicea. They had such great wisdom and learning when it came to physical things, like medicine, but they were completely blind to the great needs around them. They were so blind that they could not even see their own miserable condition, let alone the great spiritual needs of the people around them.
In order to be successful, it is not the wisdom of men or great knowledge that you need. Don’t get me wrong, education is important. Education is good. It’s when you begin to think that your knowledge is the answer to everything and you allow your knowledge to blind you to the things of God that your run into trouble. True success is being able to see the great needs of people around you, and I would add, a willingness to do something about those needs.
1 Corinthians 1:19-21, "As the Scriptures say, ‘I will destroy human wisdom and discard their most brilliant ideas.’ So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s brilliant debaters? God has made them all look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save all who believe."
I’m sure that you know that the Bible has a lot of good things to say about wisdom. But I have selected a verse that seems to condemn wisdom. Why? Because I think this represents the type of wisdom the Laodicenas had, wisdom that excluded God.
True wisdom, on the other hand, is God centered.
Proverbs 9:10, "Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in understanding."
So, Jesus is not condemning wisdom. He is condemnign relying on the natural to the exclusion of the spiritual needs of people.
Proverbs 29:18a, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
"Vision" is something every organization needs, but what is vision? Vision is direction, a purpose toward which you are moving. Now if we were talking about a business, that might be good enough. In a Christian context, vision is direction which has been given by God. Vision is seeing the future and moving toward it. This was exactly what the Laodicean church was lacking. They had no sight as far as what God’s plan for them was.
We can run into the same issues in our own lives. When we make our decisions, we often make choices based on what we think is a good idea or on some advice from somone else. Sometimes this works out, but sometimes it does not lead to success. This is because success is not about making smart choices, but about making the right choices.
How can we know what the right choices are? Sometimes our wisdom can’t tell us that.
The only thing that can tell us that is vision. We must see what God’s plan and purpose is
and make our decisions based on that instead of our own wisdom. Henrietta Mears said,
"When God gives a command or a vision of truth, it is never a question of what He will do, but what we will do. To be successful in God’s work is to fall in line with His will and do it His way. All this is pleasing to Him is success."
c. 2001 Stephan Brown
