HOW DO WE RATE OUR SUCCESS?
Those Bumper Stickers!
I never thought much of the bumper stickers I keep seeing on peoples’ cars until this particular one caught my eye. It read: THE ROAD TO SUCCESS IS ALWAYS UNDER CONSTRUCTION”. How true indeed, I thought to myself. Maybe you, too, will agree, because although success is measured in many different ways, no one can say, at any level that the ultimate has been achieved. There is always room for improvement. As disciples of Christ, we are always walking in our Master’s footsteps, sharing his weakness and strength. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul says that it was in weakness that Jesus was crucified and put to death (2 Cor. 13:4) and that it is only by God’s power that he lives. As human beings united to Jesus in his humanity, we are weak but when our unity with Christ aspired to do all we can and walk with him on the road that leads to the ultimate reality, then we are strong in faith and action and this helps us to keep on plodding away, constructing the road to success.
For those who neither understood nor believed in Jesus’s ministry and judged him according to the world’s standards, he died on the cross as a failure. During his earthly life he claimed to be the son of God, the Messiah and Son of Man who was sent to usher in the Kingdom of God which would have an entirely different kind of administration and work for the liberation of every soul. But at his death he seemed to have made no head way and finally succumbed to human weakness, tears and death on the cross as a criminal. There are many things that Jesus said and did which can be interpreted as or denote human frailty and powerlessness and yet those of us who believe see his every action and ours, so long as we do it in his name and for his sake, as contribution to the construction of the road to success. This means that as Christians marching on the road to success, we must support and build each other up for the sake of Christ. In each of our deeds, however minute, provided it is meant to contribute to the construction of the road to the ultimate realty, there must be an extolling, not of oneself but a preaching of Jesus Christ as Lord (2 Cor. 4:5). The process of constructing the road to success is crucial and intricate. It, therefore, calls for our spirituality, vision, insight, humility, simple wisdom, persuasive words and a great sense of humor that we and all those whose lives we touch may think of nothing and preach nothing but the love of Jesus Christ.
After the holidays and our summer travels, we will get back to start yet a new Church year and to continue carrying the cross of Christ and constructing the road to success. Let us be alerted to the urgency of God’s work for his Church, remain united and patient with one another, that we, as a strong group of people in unity with Christ, may build the road to success by proclaiming the message of Christ at all times, convenient or not, with all the patience, love and forgiveness that the work of the Church required. Peace to all of you.
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Alex
