Are you a success?

“Am I a success” is a difficult question to answer. Many people have definitive “measures” of success that they try to sell. They say, “You’re a success if you say/do/have/are _x_.” What they use to fill in the blank–their “x”–could be anything: millions of dollars, time spent with family, children raised to follow the Lord, missionary service overseas, a successful church, a successful book.

There are big things that we all want to succeed at – loving God, loving others, and so on. Still, the question of “Am I a success” is individual. The answer is a question: “successful at what?”

The dictionary definition of success, after all, is “1. the accomplishment of an aim or purpose; or, 2. the attainment of popularity or profit.” The first definition has to do with your personal vision, and the second definition has to do with other people’s perception of you.

Here’s the challenge: for most people–and especially those who follow after God–the aims and purposes in our life do not lead to the attainment of popularity or profit on a scale that the world calls “successful.” The world only has so many billionaires and boy bands.

The world will say that’s because too many of us set our sights too low. We aim for mediocrity. We are not all we could be. I, however, question this. I think what the world sees and what God sees are two different things, and I’m not optimistic about the world’s glasses. I’m not saying we should be mediocre parents, or doctors, or lawyers, or pastors. However, I do think, if God has called us to be a parent, then become the world’s leading movie star is not a success.

Let’s strive for the accomplishment of aims and purposes that relate to the vision God has given us–and not to the muddied sights of the world.