Friday, May 4, 2007 1:16 AM CDT
Clergy View -- Measure of a successful life: Service to God
By REV. MIKE SOUTHARDS
First Christian Church, Charleston
Three friends die in a car crash, and they find themselves at the gates of heaven. Before entering, they are each asked a question.
“When you are in your casket and friends and family are mourning you, what would you like to hear them say about you?” asks St. Peter.
The first guy says, “I would like to hear them say that I was a great doctor and a great family man.”
The second guy says, “I would like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and school teacher who made a huge difference in our children of tomorrow.”
The last guy replies, “I would like to hear them say... LOOK! HE’S MOVING!”
Aside from the quick wit of the third man, what would you want said of you? The answer comes down to, how do you define success?
Far too often we define success with status, achievement with attainment. The wise sage Erma Bombeck once warned: “Don’t confuse fame with success. Madonna is one, and Helen Keller is the other.”
The key in defining success is to make sure that our greatness is not determined by the value of our wealth but by the wealth of our values.
The world called J. Paul Getty a success. In his life he was the wealthiest man in the world. For many he epitomized success, not only by the money he made, but by what he donated, such as $7 million for an art museum.
But with his family he was a tyrant. He changed his will 21 times to punish family members who crossed him. When his 12-year-old son suddenly died he wrote in his journal, on the day of his burial, “Today was the day we buried darling Timothy, sad day.” But then he went on to outline various stocks he traded.
Scripture is clear that over the long haul relationships are more valuable than things. You can be a success in everything else but if you don’t care about people, you’re a failure.
Recently I read about a Texas oilman who decided to share some of his good fortune with his brother by giving him a new car. As the proud owner of the new car came out of his office one afternoon, he noticed a kid admiring it.
The kid, suddenly aware that someone was standing there, asked, “Is this your car?”
“Yep. My brother gave it to me.”
“Wow! You say your brother gave you this car? I wish…”
At this point the man expected to hear, “I wish I had a brother like that.” What he heard though, caught him totally by surprise. “I wish I could be a brother like that.”
Impressed by such an attitude, the man asked the kid if he would like to go for a ride in his new car.
“You bet I would.”
After circling the block, the man offered to take the kid home. Soon they came to a rundown neighborhood.
“Here’s where I live,” the kid announced. “Could you wait here a second? I want to show my brother this car.”
In a few minutes the kid came out with his brother — struggling to walk with braces on his legs.
“You see this car?” the kid motioned to his brother. “That man’s brother gave it to him. That’s the kind of brother I want to be to you. Some day I’m going make enough money so I can take you to a doctor who can help you walk without these braces.”
Worldly success is defined as having accumulated power, prestige or the money that often accompanies these things. Success from God’s point of view has a different definition. It’s found in the attitude of those who, like Jesus Christ, see themselves as ones who look not to be served, but to serve.
How will your friends and family, your community know that you were successful in life? It won’t matter how much money you made… or how many degrees you earned… or what positions you held… what matters is how you lived.
Did you care about people? Were you here to serve or here to be served? Above all, did the cause of Christ come before everything else?
You will know for sure that your life has been a success if on that great and glorious day to come, you hear the author of life say to you, “Well done faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
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Ridiculous wrote on May 4, 2007 8:59 PM: