The Priests of Success Don't Sleep

"It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep" (Psalm 127:2).

Modernism and the industrial revolution have left us not only with conveniences that have made life much easier but, as I've argued elsewhere, an unthinking breed of men. Another offshoot of this is the undue quality of virtue that has been stamped upon workaholism. Wide-eyed adulation is heaped upon the man (or woman) who can work long hours, who has the mettle to forego personal relationships and amusements, all on the altar of the workbench.

Enter SAP India CEO, Ranjan Das. By all accounts, the SAP India head honcho was a health nut. He ate right, exercised regularly, and was even an avid marathoner. But at the unripe, young age of 42, Das drops dead of a massive heart attack. The reason? Sleep deprivation!

Ranjan Das was a poster boy for modernism and industry. He was one of its priests, and he sacrificed his life for sacred success.

I don't know about you, but that's certainly no way to live! Nor die.

John Calvin has some words to say on the matter:

Good Times, Bad Times, Gimme Some O' That

"For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning" — Psalm 30:5.

Their mourning shall last but until morning. God will turn...

- their winter's night into a summer's day,

- their sighing into singing,

- their grief into gladness,

- their mourning into music,

- their bitter into sweet,

- their wilderness into a paradise.

The life of a Christian is filled up with interchanges of

- sickness and health,

- weakness and strength,

- want and wealth,

- disgrace and honor,

- crosses and comforts,

- miseries and mercies,

- joys and sorrows,

- mirth and mourning.

All honey would harm us; all wormwood would undo us, a composition of both is the best way in the world to keep our souls in a healthy constitution. It is best and most for the health of the soul that the warm south wind of mercy, and the cold north wind of adversity do both blow upon it. And though every wind that blows, shall blow good to the saints, yet certainly their sins die most, and their graces thrive best, when they are under the frigid, drying, nipping north wind of calamity, as well as under the warm, nourishing south wind of mercy and prosperity.

— Thomas Brooks (1608-1680), The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod [Pensacola, FL: Chapel Library, 2007], 9-10.

Beasley on Success

"How do you define success? Many people define success in terms of this world's possessions and positions. Unfortunately, many Christians have joined them in the materialistic 'rat race.' I, too, have been caught up in the same thing.

When I was a brand-new Christian over twenty-five years ago, I told God, 'Lord, you were smart to save old Beasley! I'm going to cut a wide swath for You in the real estate development business. And, I'm going to cut Your church in on a big share of the profits!' Who was I kidding? Certainly not God. I was in it for Beasley, using God as my 'ace in the hole' to assure my 'success' in the world.

God then proceeded to take me not to profitability but to deep indebtedness. It took over 20 years to get my financial head above water again. But I found success! 'Where?' some one asks. In the discipline of my heavenly Father.

Those who love the world system plow vainly ahead, seeking the treasures that the world has to offer. But I found out that what the world has it gives begrudgingly, if at all. And once you have its treasures, at least four things happen. First, the 'treasure' is never as good as you thought. Second, you become addicted, as a little treasure causes you to seek more and more. Third, you worry about losing what treasure you've achieved. Fourth, you realize that you can't take your treasure with you when you die. I call it the 'short view' of life.

God's view is the 'long view.' First, God's treasure is better than advertised. Second, it brings contentment. Third, God's treasure brings peace and assurance. Fourth, His treasure is eternal. You can take it with you! Seek God's treasure, and let Him define 'success' for you."

— Robert C. Beasley (graduate of Westminster Seminary California and church elder. Founder of COMPS InfoSystems, where he was CEO until he retired to devote more time to teaching and writing), The Commandments of Christ, ch. 8, pp. 95-96.

Which Jesus Do You Follow?

This song by Todd Agnew moved me to tears. It gave out a loud cry—a call to authentic WORSHIP: the worship of the one, true God, Savior, and Lord, JESUS CHRIST, who came as a lowly and uncomely man—being in essence God—that He might show the mercy and love of the Father to the UNDERDOGS, to those who have come to the end of their ropes and have fully surrendered their lives, their total selves, NOT to more "rope mileage" but to just one thing: TO HAVE JESUS CHRIST INCREASE, AND THEM DECREASE.

Called to Lose

Mt 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mt 16:25
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Mt 16:26
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

I used to think back then that Christianity, or my relationship with the Lord, was the key energizing element that would ensure my "success" in this world. I was certain that "the Lord's favor" would get me climbing up the corporate ladder a lot faster than I would have without its help. I'm glad that the Lord has lovingly guided me away from that flawed train of thinking.

What the Christian must realize is that the desire to be a "success" is evidence of sin still residing within the heart. The "success" I am referring to here is the clamor to be Chicken No. 1 in the Pecking Order, having the right to peck at the bottom chickens with no threat of being pecked back. It is the insidious sin of pride disguised as one's right "to be all that you can be". In the milieu of this deception, being a "winner" is the chief of virtues while being a "loser" is mortal sin.

In God's eyes, the one who is a true success is the one whom the world calls loser, underachiever, underdog, pathetic, bottom chicken, all because he has reordered his thinking into pursuing the kind of success that is marked by loving others with a kind of love that considers them better than himself and therefore not competitors. God's winner also has found the world's labels to be utterly meaningless and has firmly decided within his heart and mind that all that matters is for the silence to be broken in the end by these words from the Master's lips, "Well done, good and faithful servant".

Such a man is free in the fullest sense of freedom. No longer is he a rat in the rat race but a bird soaring high on wings as eagles. He is a man of vision, zeal, and creative energy--a dynamo--consumed not by the vain pursuit of pecking rights but by the passion to be just like his Master, a despised servant.

Cool Enough to be Uncool

I don't know if it's still the buzzword among the younger ones but, back in the day, being "cool" was what it was all about. "Cool" could mean you were conforming to the latest fad and fashion or going against it in a screaming way, brandishing unconformity in the choice of wardrobe, music and overall personal style. It was a crazy word. Everyone wanted to be "cool" and yet it was a hazy concept, with one being "cool" one day and horribly "out-of-style" the next.

Simply put, the corrupt, anti-God world system wants its denizens adopting certain mindsets, beliefs and philosophies which, naturally, must translate to behavior. It wants people flaunting their independence. To be "cool", you had to be independent; you had to put forth evidence of this independence, this self-sufficiency, this I-am-the-captain-of-my-ship principle in how you conducted yourself in every area of life. Sporting designer and branded anything meant that you were made, or rebelling against the establishment signified strength and a tough core. Of course, no one can maintain this charade for long and many end up crushed under the weight of this mindless and stupid burden.

The Christian young person does not need to aim for the world's standard of "coolness". For one thing, independence is a myth. Not a single human being is independent of God, regardless of how one may think that not to be the case. When a person sleeps at night, he lays himself at the mercy of the God who sustains life, unwittingly hoping that he wakes up the next day with the breath of life still in him. In every sphere of existence, the creature is dependent upon the Creator.

I offer this challenge to not just the new generation but to everyone who names the Name of Christ: DEPEND ON GOD WITH ALL YOUR BEING. Risk being called "uncool" by those you perceive as mattering in your life if this means glorifying Christ. Do you crave being called a "winner"? A winner at what? At having your own way in every decision of life and amassing symbols of power? Why not rather be spat upon and labelled a "loser"? Was not your Lord treated in the same way? Would you claim Him as Lord and yet shun the kind of life He lived? Would you desire eternal life without carrying your cross?

Be as an utterly helpless child at the feet of God--NOTHING IS COOLER THAN THAT!

The Idolization of Success

Referring to Luke 10

"It is so easy to rejoice in success. Our self-identity nay become entangled with the fruitfulness of our ministry. Of course, that is dangerous when the success turns sour---but that is not the problem here. Things could not be going better for Jesus' disciples. And then the danger, of course, is that it is not God himself who is being worshiped. Our own wonderful acceptance by God himself no longer moves us, but only our apparent success.

This has been the sin of more than a few 'successful' pastors, and of no fewer 'successful' lay people. While proud of their orthodoxy and while entrusted with a valid mission, they have surreptitiously turned to idolizing something different: success. Few false gods are so deceitful. when faced with such temptations, it is desperately important to rejoice for the best reasons---and there is none better than that our sins are forgiven, and that by God's own gracious initiative our names have been written in heaven."

- D.A. Carson, For the Love of God Vol. I, February 24

The Humility of True Success

Within every human being resides the desire to be all that he or she can be. It could not be otherwise for God designed man this way, honored with His image and likeness. However, because of sin, man is blinded to that which he must truly pursue in order for him to be all that he can be. A counterfeit standard is then offered by the world by which he can measure his progress towards full potentiality. Even supposed Christians are hoodwinked into believing the world's criteria for success.

The world's definition of success may be summarized as follows: YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL IF YOU HAVE THE POWER TO ACQUIRE EVERYTHING THAT YOU WANT AND MAY EVER WANT. There is nothing essentially wrong with this. Desire is key to the achievement of man's destiny. What is tragically amiss in the world's view of the successful life is that it leaves out the ground by which this kind of life is truly attained, namely God, and in place of Him enthrones money, influence, sensuality and physical beauty as the foundations of success. No wonder then that the new generation has adopted a pessimistic/nihilistic view of society and life. The world's "success" is chiefly unattainable by the majority of human beings and is actually not meant to be pursued.

What then is TRUE SUCCESS? It is the carrying of the easy yoke:

Mt 11:29
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Mt 11:30
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

It starts with LEARNING about God--beginning in THEOLOGY, then carried out in a LIFE OF OBEDIENCE TO GOD, culminating in GLORY:

Ec 12:13
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Let us not taint the presentation of the Gospel with even the slightest offering of the world's "success", but boldly proclaim the PURE and LIBERATING truth that A SUCCESSFUL LIFE IS A LIFE FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, LIVED OUT IN DEVOTION TO HIM.