Concerning Quarterbacks and Monks

I’ve been meditating on your first question to me; “.........but what do you think are the most important tools a believer needs when living a successful life for the Lord???”  I began focusing on the term “successful life for the Lord” and what exactly does that mean?

The definition of success comes in many forms.  Athletes may have one definition of success, and a stay at home mom may have another.  A musician may see success as a number one hit, and a doctor may see success as a surgery that went well.  It really depends upon your perspective.  Perspectives on success are as numerous as the stars.

Let’s take a moment and narrow the spectrum.  There is a difference between accomplishment and success.  Accomplishment means that you have engaged in a task or action with a goal in mind and have subsequently obtained the desired results. People all over the world have goals and they accomplish things everyday, but can it be said that they are all successful?

It could be said that success is when you have a pattern of accomplishments over time that when put together, add up to a major obtainment in life known as Success.  For instance, the quarterback on a pro football team began winning games in middle school, high school and college.  This pattern continues after he is recruited to a pro team and he is able to demand a very high price in his contract.

So then, “a successful life for the Lord”….. based on what I just described would indicate the need for a pattern of accomplishments….this is interesting territory!  I will explain from two different angles:

First: To accomplish something for the Lord presupposes a goal in mind and success would indicate multiple goals.  This is what James said about accomplishing things for the Lord:

James 2:14-18 (NIV)

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
      Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

Some people (Catholics…etc) have taken scriptures like this and decided that “doing” things like feeding people and clothing people showed their faith…they accomplished things for the Lord over their whole lives….is this a successful life for the Lord?  The same people, while doing much good forgot about other scriptures like:

Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

 ⁸Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

About nine miles off the coast of Ireland is an island called Skellig Michael.  On this island is a very, very old Christian monastery that was only able to hold about 10 to 12 monks at a time.  So, what do monks do all day on a very remote island?  They pray, read and recite scripture and think…that’s about it!  Is this a successful life for the Lord?

The Apostle Paul said:

Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

 ¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

He describes our Christian life as a race….one foot in front of the other….one step at a time….He says that the path is marked out…in other words as you put one foot in front of the other your goal is to stay on the path.  The “path” for everyone can be found in the scriptures…the path for you …personally can be found in your heart.

If the Lord speaks to your heart and tells you to go to a remote island and pray for the rest of your life…follow that path…be successful in what He has called you to do.  If He speaks to your heart and tells you to be a banker or a concrete worker….then follow that path….If He tells you to go to the grocery store and witness to the person decorating cakes….then do that!

Now here is the second part:  People all over the world have experienced the Lord speaking to their heart, telling them to do this or that…follow this path or that path….and they didn’t and now they live a life full of guilt because they know they missed it.  Or maybe they didn’t follow the path laid out in the scriptures and got caught up in a sinful life even though they were Christians…and now they feel like there is no hope…they know for sure that they have not lived a successful life for the Lord.

The problem is…they really don’t understand what a successful life in the Lord is all about.  A successful life in the Lord is knowing God’s love is no different from one moment to the next…no matter what you did in the last moment.  It is knowing God’s forgiveness for every single second of your life…from the time of your first breath…to your last.  It is knowing that Jesus is the one with a pattern of accomplishments in His life..He met every goal that God laid out….He had success……and His success is yours.  It is our heritage to live in the benefits of His success.  In other words…..you may have been in a wheel chair for your whole life but you get to have the pro football quarterbacks paycheck!