Success!

Dear Pastors

I don’t think I have ever met somebody who gets up on Monday Morning and heads off to work and doesn’t want to be successful at work and in life including Pastors. We might define success differently but I doubt anyone is going to argue about it’s importance. The opposite of success is failure and who wants that?

Regardless of culture, race, religion, economic background or social group, most would agree that success is important and vital to the well-being of the individual, the family unit, the group and certainly to the survival of those things into the future. Success provides confidence, security, a sense of well-being, the ability to contribute at a greater level. Without success, you, the group, your company, your church, your goals, dreams and even entire civilizations cease to survive.

So then, what is success in church work?

A few days ago I had a great conversation with a friend of mine who has been in ministry about as long as me about this very subject. I’ve had lots of discussions about ‘what is success’ over the years and I am sure you have as well. Where did you land? What is your view/conviction about this subject today?

Here are a few lines I’ve heard over the years.

“Success is a journey not a destination”.

“Success is finding the Will of God and doing it”.

“Success is irrelevant in church work, faithfulness is what matters”.

“Success is not about numbers, it’s about fruitfulness”.

“Kingdom work can’t be and shouldn’t be measured”.

“Success is about numerics….attendances, conversions, offerings etc”.

"Success is about achieving your goals and accomplishing your vision”.

I think as Pastors we need to do at least three things to ‘come to grips’ with this matter.

1. Carefully and prayerfully decide for yourself what vocational success will look like for you? What will you personally be satisfied with? When will you know when you have been successful?
2. As an Eldership/leadership do the same thing. What will corporate success look like for us, for our church? You may even consider having a church wide discussion about this.
3. Have a loooong lunch with a few mates and chew this over for your lunch along with your salad.

There’s a lot to say about this subject but what I would like to propose today is that your definition for success for you personally (as a pastor and leader) and as a local church needs to come to grips with, as a minimum, the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) and The Great Commandment (John 13:34-35) and The Nazareth Declaration (Luke 4:14-21)………..bottom line!

Blessings

Alan

If you would like to see and hear a superb defence of the gospel and at the same time understand a few insights about Islam by former Muslim, Nabeel Qureshi then you will want to check out this talk and Q and A session recorded in 2014. Brilliant! Sadly Nabeel died in September last year.

Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.