1 Corinthians 4:11-13 (ESV)
[11] To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed
and buffeted and homeless, [12] and we labor, working with our own hands. When
reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; [13] when slandered, we entreat.
We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all
things.
Blessing
does not equal approval. Neither does difficulty equal failure. In 1 Corinthians
4 the Apostle Paul described the Apostles as being treated as scum. This word
means offscouring, refuse, or scum. It is a word used metaphorically for the
most abject and despicable men. The Greeks used to apply this word scum to individuals
or even to criminals who were held so that if the community experienced an
outbreak of a pestilence they could offer them as a sacrifice to the gods. Paul
further described the Apostles as refuse or dregs. That word refers to the muck
scraped off you shoes. It is used to describe an individual who undergoes severe
trials in order to save others. Paul is
saying that the Apostles have given themselves to what the world would call
failure for the benefit of the Church.
How
do you define success? It is often defined by wealth, comfort, and ease. In the
church world it is defined by how many people we have attending, how big a
building we have, or how much money we give to missions. But is that the true
definition of success? If so, the Apostles were failures. They planted
churches, but they didn’t stay to pastor successful ministries. They saw people
coming to faith in Christ, but they didn’t receive outlandish salaries. For the
most part they had to pay their own way in ministry. Maybe we are using the
wrong measure to define success.
Daniel was a success not
because he became an important person in the Babylonian and Persian government,
but because he was faithful. Abraham was a success even though he never saw the
fulfillment of God’s promises. Hebrews 11:13 says of Abraham and Sarah that
they “died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen
them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were
strangers and exiles on the earth.” Elijah was a success even though he spent much
of his ministry hiding out from the king and fearing for his life. Hebrews 11 speaks
of those who
were tortured, refusing to accept release, so that
they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and
even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they
were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats,
destitute, afflicted, mistreated— of whom the world was not worthy— wandering
about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (Heb
11:35-38)
God calls them successful, but the world would call
them failures. Blessing does not equal approval. Neither does difficulty equal failure.
The real issue is not success by the standards of the world, it is faithfulness
in the eyes of God. How do you define success?
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