What If We Have Been Measuring Success Wrong?

We have been taught how to recognize success.

A nice house. A newer car. Money in the bank. Property. Nice furniture. A successful career.

Enough income that we don't have to worry about tomorrow.

When someone has these things, we often look at their life and say, “They’re doing well.”

But according to what standard?

Because when we open Scripture, we discover something uncomfortable:

God's definition of a successful life doesn't always look like ours.

And perhaps the reason so many of us spend our lives chasing things that never satisfy us is because we have allowed the world to define what success looks like.

Whatever You Call Success, You Will Chase

This may be the heart of the issue.

Whatever you define as success will eventually become what you pursue.

If success is having more money, you will chase money.

If success is owning a bigger house, you will chase the house.

If success is having the nicest things, you will chase things.

If success is recognition, you will chase people's approval.

But if success is knowing God, who will you chase?

God.

That is why our definition of success matters so much. It quietly determines the direction of our lives.

Jesus said:

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”— Matthew 6:21

Notice that Jesus connects our treasure with our heart.

What we treasure reveals what we are pursuing.

The Rich Young Ruler Looked Successful

In Matthew 19:16–22, a wealthy young man approached Jesus asking what he needed to do to have eternal life.

From the outside, this man appeared successful.

He had wealth.

He had possessions.

He apparently had influence and standing.

He was also religious. He told Jesus that he had kept the commandments Jesus mentioned.

By almost every measurement people use today, this man was doing well.

Then Jesus touched the one thing that actually owned his heart.

Jesus told him to sell his possessions, give to the poor, and follow Him.

The man walked away sorrowful.

Why?

Scripture says:

“For he had great possessions.”— Matthew 19:22

He possessed many things.

But in that moment, we discover that his possessions also possessed him.

When forced to choose between what he owned and following Jesus, he couldn't release what he had accumulated.

That is not freedom.

That is imprisonment disguised as success.

Jesus Wasn't Teaching That Money Is Evil

We need to be careful here.

Scripture doesn't teach that possessing money automatically makes someone ungodly.

Abraham had wealth. Job had possessions. David was a king.

Paul doesn't say money itself is the root of all evil. He warns that “the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).

There is a tremendous difference between having something and needing something in order to feel successful.

You can own a house without the house owning you.

You can have money without money becoming your god.

You can drive a nice car without finding your identity in the car.

The danger begins when losing those things would cause us to believe we have somehow become less valuable, less blessed, or less successful.

That's when possessions have become more than possessions.

They have become measurements of identity.

Israel Had the Land but Lost Sight of God

We see another picture of this throughout Israel's history.

God gave Israel a land.

He gave them cities.

He gave them vineyards.

He gave them an inheritance.

Yet possessing the Promised Land did not automatically mean they were walking closely with the God who gave it to them.

There were periods when Israel possessed the land while their hearts wandered terribly far from God.

Judges repeatedly describes a cycle of Israel turning away from the Lord, suffering under their enemies, crying out to God, and being delivered.

Later, Israel and Judah experienced devastating judgment despite having the temple, the land, the cities, and the outward signs of God's previous blessing.

That should teach us something.

Having what God gave you is not the same as having God.

You can become so consumed with the gift that you forget the Giver.

You can live in the blessing while becoming distant from the One who blessed you.

When Our Blessings Become Our Chains

Jesus gave a startling warning after His encounter with the rich young ruler:

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”— Matthew 19:24

The disciples were astonished by this.

Why would wealth create such danger?

Because wealth can create the illusion that we don't need anything.

Money can provide comfort.

Possessions can provide security.

Status can provide identity.

Success can provide validation.

And slowly, without realizing it, we can begin receiving from possessions what our hearts were supposed to receive from God.

Then the very things we thought proved our freedom become the chains holding us captive.

We work more because we need more.

We sacrifice more time because we need to maintain more.

We compare ourselves with others because they have more.

We become anxious because we're afraid of losing what we have.

And then we chase something else because what we already acquired didn't satisfy us for very long.

We call it success.

But sometimes it's just a beautifully decorated prison.

Paul Had a Different Definition of Success

Paul understood achievement.

He had religious credentials, education, heritage, reputation, and status.

Yet in Philippians 3:7–8, Paul essentially says that everything he once counted as gain became loss compared with something infinitely greater:

Knowing Christ.

That's a radically different measurement.

Paul wasn't measuring his life by what he accumulated.

He measured his life by Who he knew.

And that changes everything.

If knowing Christ is the prize, then a person can lose possessions without losing success.

They can lose status without losing success.

They can be overlooked and still be successful.

They can live in a modest house and be successful.

They can drive an old car and be successful.

They can have very little by the world's standards and still possess something money could never purchase.

They know Him.

What Are We Teaching the Next Generation to Chase?

This is something worth considering.

What do our children hear when we talk about successful people?

Do we primarily point toward their careers?

Their homes?

Their salaries?

Their businesses?

Their possessions?

What if we taught the next generation to recognize a different kind of success?

“That person loves God.”

“That person is faithful.”

“That person serves when nobody is watching.”

“That person gives generously.”

“That person walks in integrity.”

“That person knows Scripture and lives it.”

“That person has followed Jesus through incredibly difficult seasons and still hasn't let go of Him.”

Imagine what happens when those become our measurements.

We begin producing people who aren't simply trying to make a living.

They're trying to live a life that matters before God.

So What Does a Successful Life Look Like?

Maybe we have been asking the wrong question.

Instead of asking:

“How much did I accumulate?”

Maybe we should ask:

“How faithfully did I follow?”

Instead of:

“How much did I own?”

Ask:

“How much of me did Jesus have?”

Instead of:

“Did people recognize my accomplishments?”

Ask:

“Did Jesus recognize my obedience?”

Because eventually everything we use to measure earthly success stays here.

The house stays.

The car stays.

The furniture stays.

The bank account stays.

The titles disappear.

Someone else eventually owns what we spent our lives accumulating.

But our relationship with Christ reaches beyond the grave.

Jesus asked one of the most important questions ever spoken:

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”— Mark 8:36

Think about those words.

Gain the whole world.

By the world's measurements, that sounds like ultimate success.

Jesus says you can gain all of it and still experience the greatest loss imaginable.

Maybe Success Is Simpler Than We Made It

There is nothing wrong with working hard.

There is nothing inherently wrong with owning a home, building a business, earning money,

enjoying nice things, or providing well for your family.

The question is not simply:

“What do you have?”

The deeper question is:

“What has you?”

Because whatever you define as success becomes what you chase.

If success means possessions, you will spend your life chasing possessions.

If success means recognition, you will spend your life chasing recognition.

If success means money, you will spend your life chasing money.

But if success means knowing Christ, obeying Christ, becoming like Christ, and finishing what Christ has called you to do...

then you will spend your life chasing Him.

And maybe when everything else is stripped away, that is the only success that was ever going to matter anyway.

Don't spend your entire life accumulating things only to discover that the things you owned eventually owned you.

Hold the blessings God gives you with open hands.

Enjoy them.

Be thankful for them.

Use them for His glory.

But never confuse the blessing with the One who blessed you.

Because the greatest treasure isn't something God can place in your hands.

The greatest treasure is God Himself.

Pastor Scott