How Does God Measure Success?

We must never mistake quantity for quality. Neither must we confuse physical prosperity with success and happiness. A wise grandfather once asked his grandson when a man was rich enough. The grandson replied, “When he has a million dollars!” “No “. “Ten million?” “No.” “A hundred million?” “No”. And on and on the little boy raised the ante. When he finally gave up the old gentleman gravely said, “”When he has a little more than he has, and that is never!”

The Bible clearly expands upon the error of the principle of pursuing prosperity, pleasure or popularity as our primary purpose in life. In the Old Testament, God chose the small despised nation of Israel for his special people and special channel of blessing to the world. He then chose the small town of Bethlehem and a manger as the cradle for His Incarnation.  In the New Testament He chose what some would see as a motley collection of common folk as the first witnesses of His glorious gospel. And then a diminutive disciple named Paul was chosen to be the powerful and peerless preacher of His gospel.

God is not always the God of the crowd or the majority. If you recall a unanimous vote called for His crucifixion. God is more often than not interested in the dedicated two or three. He looks on the inward man. He’s a heart-reader, not a head-counter. Success achieved at the cost of compromise is no success at all. Conscripts can scarcely be classed as converts nor draftees as devotees; no matter how many may swell the ranks of popular religion. When the pressure is applied by Satan, they too will turn back in the day of battle.

At the crucial moment of crisis many would be disciples are willing to slide along on the coat tails of those who are prepared to pay the price. They sometimes decide it is just all too much. They turn back in the time of trouble. Evidently their possession  doesn’t measure up to their profession. They put on a good show until the testing time comes. They construct an impressive facade, even to the point of being outwardly indistinguishable from genuine disciples.

They are of the same sort John spoke of in his first letter, “They went our from us, but they were not of us, for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” They are of the same caliber and character Jesus spoke of on another occasion when He said, “No  man having placed his hand to the plough; and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” They are of the sort often called, “On again, off again, Fennigan types.”

Gypsy Smith once asked such a man in an after-meeting, “Are you a Christian?” “Yes,” the man replied, “For twenty-eight years, on and off.” “More off than on, I guess,” replied the evangelist.

The Master was fully aware of the inevitable decrease in His popularity with those who were pseudo-disciples. The waning popularity of His heaven sent ministry and message would culminate at the cross. Is it any wonder He once said, “Woe be unto you when all men speak well of you.”? Numbers are not always a correct criterion for claims of spiritual success or is a crowd of people a perfect gauge of powerful preaching. Let us never be caught up into the contemporary pseudo- Christian movements that clearly seem to mistake quantity for quality and size for success!

When is Enough, Enough?

I published the following article in the Church Bulletin of the Church I pastored some twelve years ago. In view of the rapid deterioration of our cultures since then it would seem the fears and concerns expressed in the article were more than justified and could be viewed as somewhat "prophetic."   The article still speaks volumes to the need for Christians to take a stand today.

"I could not believe my ears! A spokesperson for a Queensland Teacher's Union was actually saying on the current affairs programme called, " Summer Diary," that they were pushing the Queensland Education Department to forcibly require all students in Queensland Schools to participate in sex education classes that would include details about homosexual lifestyles and present this aberrant behaviour as normal and acceptable conduct!

They would insist parents who object to such deviant brain washing not even be allowed to withdraw their child from such classes! She said they were making it an issue of human rights for the children. That parents would not have the right to deprive their children of such so-called education! She was followed by your obligatory, stereotypical, know -it-all, University Professor, who, with the usual pseudo-tolerant smile for the unwashed masses, was trying to allay the fear of any ignorant parent that this might be harmful to young children.

I said to myself, "That's it! - That's enough." It's time we who call ourselves Christians quit talking and start walking! I agree wholeheartedly with the following excerpts from an article by Dr. James Dobson: ‘There are Christians leaders who do not feel it is the role of the church to confront evil in government. They feel they must concern themselves only with spiritual matters, as though the killing of unborn babies and the support for public morality are beyond their scope. ... these leaders are saying, 'It's not our calling.' Others say, When we use our influence in society, we expose ourselves and our faith to ridicule and rejection.' ....

To those Christians who want to say nothing against evil Dr. Dobson asks some important questions: ‘At what point will you rise to defend what you believe? Is there anything worth putting your reputation or your life in jeopardy for? Will you object if your children are routinely indoctrinated in homosexual ideology in public schools? Will you object if imperfect babies are killed in our hospitals? . Will you object if involuntary euthanasia becomes widespread in our nursing homes? Will you object if the government tells your pastor or priest what he can say from the pulpit? (In Sweden an evangelical pastor who preached a sermon on Sodom and Gomorrah was convicted of "verbal violence" and was sentenced to a four week prison term) ...

Will you object if the government assumes ownership of children and tells parents how they must raise them - under penalty of losing custody? Will you object if boys and girls are given a wide range of rights that override the wishes of their parents? Will you object if each family is permitted only one baby, as is the official policy in China today? Will you object to a homosexual and lesbian quota hiring system being imposed upon business and churches? Will you object if obscenity laws are repealed and child pornography is ignored by the government?

Are these changes coming to Western nations? I don't know. Some are already well entrenched. Others appear to be right around the corner. Anything can happen in a civil war." To those who say we can't win this battle Dr. Dobson says, ‘That's irrelevant. It is not our duty to win. It's our duty to be fight and be faithful!’

The Perfect Place

Have you ever considered the best place to be in time of trouble? For the small animal, scurrying for safety in order to escape the sharp talons of a circling shadow, it may be crack in a rock. For the fox, relentlessly pursued by the pack, it may be his den. For the child, it maybe his mother's arm. For the soldier, it may be a simple foxhole. For the weary traveller, it may be the light up ahead. For all these, who seek shelter in time of trial, trouble or tribulation, there is a perfect place.

Late one afternoon, many years ago when we lived in an area known as tornado alley, the flash of continuous lightening lighting the darkening sky and constant echo of the terrible roll of thunder warned of impending disaster. As night approached, I became quite concerned that I might find a place of protection for my young family. I sought a place and found it.

But there were others who were not as fortunate. The next day, as a pastor, I visited my cousin, one of the survivors of the terrible storm that came that night, in a local hospital. He was suffering from multiple serious bone factures and severe cuts and contusions. He told me the sad story of his failure to quite make it to their elaborate storm shelter. His wife and her mother didn't survive.  He told of glancing out his door at the approaching tornado,  grabbing his wife in his arms and then waking in the hospital.

Sometimes a Christian needs a perfect place of shelter during the inevitable storms of life. The Christian life at best is a stormy and sometimes troubling and terrifying experience. Jesus said it would be so when He told us that in this world we would have tribulation. But the exact location of that perfect place for a Christian may vary with time and circumstance.

The perfect place for Noah was an Ark. Even though it had never rained in all of history, he was called to warn his friends and neighbors of the inconceivable judgment of God and to invite them into that perfect place of shelter. He preached and warned for one hundred and twenty years, but they would not heed. Ultimately, only eight souls found refuge in God's perfect place.

The perfect place for Joseph was a pit, a prison and then a throne. The perfect place for Daniel was a lion's den. The perfect place for the three Hebrew children was a fiery furnace. The perfect place for Job was sitting in an ash heap, covered with boils from head to doe, being tongue scourged by his fair weather friends and nagged by an unrelenting wife. The perfect place for Jonah was the belly of a whale. The perfect place for David was hiding from the wrath of Saul in a Judean cave. The perfect place for Elijah was having a pity party beside a brook.

What do all these places have in common and what is the perfect place for a Christian? Obviously, it is sheltering in the very centre of God's will. Even in the greatest tribulation, those who turn to God and trust in Him will find a perfect place of rest and peace!