The Gospel and Success

The Gospel confronts the way we pursue the praise and admiration of others through our accomplishments. Pastor Tim Keller explains the futility of such a pursuit: “Many people pursue success as a way to overcome the sense that they are somehow ‘outsiders.’ If they attain it, they believe, it will open the doors into the clubs, into the social sets, into relationships with the connected and influential. Finally, they think, they will be accepted by all the people who really matter. Success promises to do that, but in the end in cannot deliver.”

Both the irreligious and the religious are guilty of selfishly pursuing worthiness through our accomplishments. The irreligious use their success, which was made possible by the gifts given to them by God, not to bring him praise but themselves praise. And the religious do the same thing in a different way. They use their good deeds not to bring praise to God but rather to receive selfish praise from him and the Christian friends around them. The bad news is that in the end God will turn away those who either use their success to rob God of praise or use it to earn God’s praise. This includes even good religious people (Matt. 7:21-23), for “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6) when we try to make ourselves worthy enough for God with them.

But, the good news is that when we admit our failures, God offers forgiveness (1 John 1:9). In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the son returns home and says, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” Then the father clothed him with his robe and threw a huge feast (Luke 15). This is an illustration of what happens when we admit our sinful failures to God and are covered by the success of Jesus. The greatest accomplishment we could ever receive was not earned by us, but was purchased through the blood, sweat, and tears of Jesus. Keller says, “...the salvation of the world came not through climbing the success ladder, but through surrender, service, sacrifice, and death.”

Jesus’ death on the cross is where our success begins. It was there that our failures were placed on him and his righteousness was imputed to us (2 Cor. 5:21). The power that success has over us is broken when we realize that we have been made worthy by Jesus and have nothing left to prove. When we have nothing left to prove, we can live sacrificial lives that look “unsuccessful” to the world around us and climb down the ladder to help those below us.

Heaven will not be filled with people who have the most impressive resumes. Rather, it will be filled with people who cast the crown of their successes at the feet of Jesus crying out "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power” (Rev. 4:11).

This content was taken from a gospel-centered bible study series that I'm working on called Gifts of God. To download the Success study and others go to: http://t-zach.com/giftsofgod/