Success, From a Christian Perspective

Recently, I heard some influencers (I’m not a fan of that term) mention a study. It showed that the most successful people share three traits. They had superiority complexes, high levels of insecurity, and strong impulse control.

I'm not sure how scientific this finding is, but I suspect there is some truth to it. Think of some of the most worldly-successful people. A lot of them come across as egotistical, yet consistent in their work.

But I got thinking about this in my own life. I want to be successful; do I have what it takes? As a Christian, the first one is not even an option. Pride is something we should flee from. The second trait? Well, in Christ we have security, our sins washed away, and we have a right standing with God. As for the last, that should be true of all Christians.

Then again, could the phrasing of these findings be wrong? Maybe, in some way, these traits are actually true of all Christians. Let me explain, and hopefully you can pick up what I'm putting down.

As believers, we have the highest calling. We have the greatest impetus for success. We have a great task to go into the world and share the gospel. We're called to do our work as unto the Lord, seeking His glory in it, not our own. Everything the Christian does is to be done well, for Christ has done all things well. This can sound arrogant to the world. But the truth is, we shouldn't strive for excellence out of selfish motives. It comes from a desire to honor and please God, the one who has saved us.

But God has placed this task in broken vessels. He has saved us from sin. We still battle it, of course. But it should drive us more into His arms and more into a realization of our need for His continued grace and help.

And as Christians, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are mentioned in Galatians 5.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” - Galatians 5:22-34

Notice the last one, self-control. As I already said, this should be true of all Christians, as all Christians have the Holy Spirit. And if He dwells in us, then so, too, do the gifts He has bestowed on us.

So why then are so many Christians not successful? Why aren't we all millionaires and billionaires? Frankly, why are so many of us apathetic? Where is the disconnect? Is there one?

Many of us still struggle with pride. A quick scan of many "Christian" influencers and it's easy to see their pride. I know, plank in my eye first, I get it. But it's still true that even as Christians, we can think we're all that and a bag of chips. We confuse God's calling with our own, placing our wants and our kingdom over His.

We can forget what God saved us from. We sometimes think that our sin isn't that bad, at least not compared to someone else. And if we do that, we aren't driven to the grace of God because we don't think we need it. At least that's how we act.

And many Christians aren't self-controlled. When we lack that, we are tempted to indulge in mindless entertainment and sinful indulgence. We don't spend time close to God through prayer and His word.

As a result, we might lack success. Why? Because when we act in that way, we aren't drawing from the source. Not that we should seek God for worldly gain; leave that for the false teachers. In fact, we should flee from that kind of gain. The gospel isn't ours to peddle. But our lack of success is, perhaps, because we don't even know what success is in God's eyes.

And that's my last point. Christian's don't appear successful because Christian success isn't based on the same metrics as the world's. In other words, many Christians don’t appear successful because we’re measuring success wrong.

Think of Paul, for example. He had seen the risen Lord. He had a direct calling by Christ to preach the gospel. Paul came to know the depths of his own depravity. And he was singularly focused throughout his ministry. That sounds to me like he exhibited those traits.

As a result, he preached the gospel across continents. He started many churches. He saw countless individuals come to saving faith. And he wrote much of the New Testament, the same Scriptures that we still read two thousand years later. If any man was successful, it was Paul.

Yet the man experienced incredible hardships. He was beaten and left for dead. He spent much of his life in prison. He was hated by many. That does not sound like success.

As he said in Philippians 3:

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.” Vs. 7.

“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Vss. 12-14.

Paul knew success in this world meant nothing, as he says in Philippians. He had experienced that kind of success, too. He truly did know all extremes of this world, from being well off to being beaten and imprisoned (Philippians 4:10-14).

Ultimately, and by God's grace, Paul strove for eternal success.

And so, maybe many Christians don't appear successful. Not because they don't exhibit those traits; and not because they aren't millionaires. It's because they strive for something more than this world can offer.

May we all strive for that kind of success.