I want success!! (by Dr P K Au) #

Frankly, at the bottom of our heart, no one likes failures; we all want success.

Thanks to the Internet, I have re-connected with more and more of my classmates from high school. I have found that quite a few of them are retired or close to retirement, spending lots of time traveling and enjoying life. Others are high flying politicians, university professors and businessmen. A couple of them are multi-multi-millionaires, and even rank among the top wealthiest people in Hong Kong. At times their successes leave a sour taste in my mouth.

As a Christian, a fundamental question I need to ask myself is: What does success mean in the Bible? Does this mean primarily prosperity in this life as claimed by the highly popular Prosperity Theology advocates such as Joel Osteen?

After much reflection upon the Bible and my own experiences, I would like to share with you my view of criteria of success based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.

Blessed

The first criterion for success can be found in Matt 5:3-10, commonly known as the Beatitudes. Here Jesus describes the ideal qualities of His disciples – in other words, successful disciples – and promises blessings upon them. Some people may translate the word “blessed,” to mean “happy,” but true blessedness is so much more – it encompasses happiness, but it cannot simply be reduced to happiness.

I like what D.A. Carson says: “To be ‘blessed’ means, fundamentally, to be approved, to find approval…Since this is God’s universe there can be no higher ‘blessing’ than to be approved by God…If God’s blessing means more to us than the approval of loved ones no matter how cherished, or of colleagues no matter how influential, then the beatitudes will speak to us very personally and deeply.”

Effectiveness

As depicted in Matt 5:13-16, success also means being effective as the salt of the earth and light of the world. That is, it means being a blessing to others.

As the salt of the earth, we have the effect of delaying moral and spiritual putrefaction of the society we live in. As the light of the world, we are to allow the light of Christ within us to shine out from us, so that people may see it.

(to be continued)

# In addition to his teaching and evangelistic ministries at church, Dr. P.K. Au has been a marketplace disciple at different workplaces over the past three decades . Currently he is Sessional Instructor at Ambrose Seminary and Volunteer Lecturer at Chrestos College. He is also "tent-making" in The Chinese Academy (Calgary) as Head of External Affairs & Organizational Effectiveness.