What Is Success?

I recently came across a magazine called Success. It showed the head of a man with a huge smile and next to him a coverline read “Make More Money in 2020.” The image really struck me. In one line it communicated what success looks like for many people in our world. Success is shorthand for wealth. The more stuff you have, the more successful you are perceived to be.

I wondered what a magazine called Success would feature if Jesus were the editor. This magazine, I imagined, would be quite different.

The Gospels give us some idea of what this might look like. In Matthew 25, Jesus paints a picture for us. He reveals what the lives of people who are “blessed” in God’s Kingdom look like. In this passage Jesus reveals that those who care for others are actively serving God in what they do.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in,  I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me…. whatever you did for one of the least of these you did for me. (Matthew 25:35-36,40)

I imagine if Jesus were to publish Success it would simply say, “Love God, Love your Neighbor, Get Started!”