Glorious victories, related dangers
Our basic identity and worth are not the triumph of our efforts. They are the free gift of God.
I hope you’ve known the joy of a long-resistant friend coming to faith in Christ or experienced God’s powerful work in and through you. What a privilege to see God at work and be part of what he is doing! However, such glorious victories come with at least three related dangers.
Danger 1: Striving for success more than seeking God. Surely all missionaries want to excel at Japanese language and culture, and to be effective evangelists and preachers. Focusing too much on success subtly shifts our focus from seeking God to relying on ourselves. These desires can become idols. And worshipping success has two miserable side-effects.
Firstly, dissatisfaction. If two people respond to church invitations this month, next month we want five! If one person is baptised this year, next year we want three. Praiseworthy desires, but are we seeking God’s glory or personal success?
Secondly, resentment. How many missionaries feel envious when they see the success or superior language abilities of other missionaries? Henri Nouwen says, “Much sadness and gladness in my life flows directly from my comparing, and most, if not all, of this comparing is useless and a terrible waste of time and energy.”1
Danger 2: Self-congratulation more than praising God. If our focus is success, instead of praising God, we congratulate ourselves. If local evangelism bears fruit or people turn to Christ and grow through our preaching, we may begin to believe it’s all down to us! Kenneth Carder describes this as “functional atheism.”2
Danger 3: Enjoying the gift more than thanking the Giver. Further, focusing on success leads to enjoying the gifts rather than thanking the Giver. For instance, if children flock to your kids’ club because of your ability to tell Bible stories or do puppetry, this temptation can arise quickly.
How can we overcome these dangers?
Safeguard 1: Know God. “But let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD” (Jer. 9:24 NIV UK 1986). The challenge for us is how we can grow to know God more deeply and walk with him more closely. Knowing God and boasting about him only is our first safeguard.
Safeguard 2: Follow Jesus’s example. Jesus, though God, “made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant” (Phil. 2:7 NIV). When the devil tempted Jesus with worldly power and authority, he answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only’” (Luke 4:8 NIV). We should not be those who seek personal glory or satisfaction. Jesus’s practical humility and servant-hearted obedience is our example and our model.
Safeguard 3: Be the person God made you to be. The Apostle Paul says, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (Phil. 3:12 NIV). Christ took hold of you. As incredible as it sounds, Jesus chose you and me. And God made you and me, each of us to His unique blueprint. God doesn’t make mistakes! Let’s delight in being who God made each of us to be.
Safeguard 4: Be a good steward of God’s gifts to you. Our one-of-a-kind blueprints provide each of us with unique opportunities. Again, Paul tells us, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Eph. 2:10 NIV). How can we be good stewards of the personality and gifts God has given us? Are we doing what we are equipped and asked to do? Nouwen says, “Each child of God has . . . his or her unique place, all of them places of God.”3
Final word
“The glorious, triumphant news is that it is all a gift. We cannot earn our worth and relationship as God’s son or daughter . . . Our worth lies in the One to whom we belong . . . Our basic identity and worth are not the triumph of our efforts. They are the free gift of God.”4
Pause and Reflect:
- How have I been striving for success more than seeking God?
- What should I praise God for rather than congratulating myself?
- What gifts can I thank God for?
- How can I get to know God more?
- How can I follow Jesus’s example more closely?
- Am I being obedient to what God has called me to be and do? JH
1. Henri Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming (New York: Crown Publishing Group, 1994), 103.
2. Kenneth L. Carder, “Temptations and triumphs of ministry,” Faith & Leadership, https://faithandleadership.com/temptations-and-triumphs-ministry (August 16, 2010).
3. Nouwen, The Return, 81.
4. Carder, “Temptations and triumphs of ministry.”