Redefining Success

Focused. Hard-working. Conscientious. Determined. Results-oriented. 

These adjectives pepper my resumes and performance evaluations. They accurately describe my work ethic. For many years, I believed in this formula for success:  

Set Goals + Work Hard= Desired Results

For years this formula worked like magic, fueling my drive and ensuring my success. Until it didn’t.

• I prepared perfectly for the interview, but someone else received the job.
• I faithfully followed a diet, but did not lose the weight.
• I excelled in my job performance, but budget cuts eliminated my position.
• I generously offered friendship to a coworker but experienced painful rejection.

My definition of success, desired results, did not consider factors outside of my control. Focused solely on results actually discredits my true success and leads to unwarranted feelings of failure. 

Jesus addresses this issue beautifully in the parable of the ten minas. (Luke 19:11-27) 

The parable opens with a nobleman leaving for a foreign country in order to be appointed king. Prior to his departure, he entrusted each of his servants with one minna, which equaled three months’ wages. While he was away, the servants were to “put this money to work”. 

Roman law allowed rulers to delegate authority to their servants, so the nobleman’s servants could freely invest the money on his behalf. Because few people at that time had capital, lending money was extremely profitable. Lenders could earn as much as five to ten times their original investment. 

When the nobleman returned, he held the servants accountable for their work. 

Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.
“The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.’
“‘Well done, my good servant!’ his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.’
“The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.’
“His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.’
“Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.’

“His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn’t you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?’ (Luke 19:15b-23 NIV)

The first two servants received praise for their successful efforts. Although they each began with the same amount of money, they achieved different results. One servant’s choice of investment yielded a higher return. Yet they each received praise and additional responsibility based on their efforts. I love the nobleman for not comparing the two. He didn’t chide the second servant for achieving less than the first one. In fact, he only criticized the third servant.

This servant, out of fear, hid his minna in a handkerchief. Leaving the minna with a banker would have safely yielded a minimal return. Because of his lack of effort, (not his lack of results). this servant received correction and punishment.

When we understand the nobleman represents Jesus, we have a clearer picture of how to define success. Rather than end results, Jesus measures success by our willingness to walk in obedience to His commands.

I find focusing solely on results causes me to become self-driven. I fail to notice lessons learned and spiritual growth achieved. But when I focus on obeying God’s calling, I become Spirit-led. Regardless of the outcome, I discover joy in the process.

Wherever the road leads us next, I pray we find success simply by following the One who calls us.