Success or Significance?

We’ve been home from Zambia for about ten days and have rested really, really well. We’ve had wonderful reunions with our kids and grandsons. Such joy! We’ve eaten late season South Carolina peaches. So good! And we’ve worshipped with our church family. What a privilege!

Now we’ve begun to reflect a bit on our trip to Zambia and Namibia. We think about our trips a lot once we’ve returned home and we’ve learned to ask one very important question as the years have gone by. Not, “Was our trip a success?” But rather, “Was our trip significant?”

What’s the difference, you might ask. Well…When we think of success, we tend to think in terms of accomplishments, of numbers, of programs done well. But when we think of significance, we think of legacy. And when we think of legacy, we think not about programs or numbers or accomplishments, but rather about people. We think about multi-generational impact. We think about children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. We think about people. About disciples.

Sadly, it seems the church sometimes aims for success rather than significance. Jim Cymbala, the pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle, once wrote something to the effect that the church was always in danger of worshipping the “unholy trinity of attendance, buildings, and cash.” In other words, of aiming for success rather than significance. Jesus, after all, commanded us to make disciples, not develop popular programs, build buildings, and maximize giving. Disciples making disciples making disciples, then, are our legacy.

Our significance, in other words, does not come from our accomplishments, but rather our legacy of people. It’s not what we accomplish, but the impact we’ve had on others and the impact they’ve had on us. And then their impact on others and so on. Success is programmatic. Significance is relational. Success can be measured. Significance is multiplied. Success is temporal. Significance is eternal.

The question, then, is not how many attended, but rather how many are living out their discipleship on a daily basis? The question is not how nice is our building, but what happens in, with, and through people when they gather there? The question is not how much money are people contributing, but how radically are they sharing whatever they have with others?

The Apostle Paul tried to convince the Corinthians that they had missed the mark, that they were aiming for success, but not significance. He wrote: “…Do we need…letters of recommendation to you or from you? You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts” (2 Corinthians 3:1-3). In other words, our ministry is you, Paul says, and your discipleship. Our legacy is you. Our significance is you. And it’s all the Holy Spirit’s doing.

So, how did our trip go? Well, it wasn’t really much of a success, to be honest. We taught small numbers of people. We met in unfinished buildings with outdoor toilets. And, we did not take up any offerings.

On the other hand, we think our trip was significant. Significant both for us and for our students. And for this, we are incredibly grateful.

Let’s put it like this. We can’t wait to hear how our students influence others as they walk with Jesus and share the Good News over the coming years and across multiple generations of believers. The truth is, though, that once our influence reaches the third or fourth generation, they will not know our names and we, in all likelihood, will not know theirs. But, that’s okay because Jesus knows every one of us by name. And that is more than enough for us.

Thank you for giving us the privilege of going once again to Zambia and Namibia. Thank you for sharing your love, your prayers, and your generosity to and through us. You are significant to us. Thank you for making us so significant to you. Both our students and we are your legacy.

“…you are a letter from christ, the result of our ministry, writtEn not with ink but with the spirit of the living god…on human hearts.” (2 CoRinthians 3:3)