Success: Bearing Fruit or Building a Kingdom?
At our recent Council of Bishops meeting, we were blessed to hear the preaching of Bishop Rudy Juan of the Phillippines. Bishop Juan’s engaging preaching hit me right between the eyes – as good preaching should, I might add. One line from Bishop Juan’s sermon has stuck with me for weeks. He said:
“The problem with success is the absence of successors.”
I don’t know any highly-driven, deeply called people who are not working tirelessly to be successful. Success demands hard work, clear focus and undeniable passion. But I must admit that there is a significant problem with success if it doesn’t involve the creation and nurture of successors. That’s the difference between a pastor-centered congregation and a mission-centered one where all baptized Christians sense their call and find a role to play in the “success” of that congregation. The absence of successors all but guarantees the limited success of any effort. The creation of successors is the essence of one of our five areas of focus – Developing Principled Christian Leaders.
Later in Bishop Juan’s sermon he contrasted success with fruitfulness. Bearing “fruit” is a model for life, Bishop Juan noted. “The promise of fruitfulness,” he said, “is another generation of fruit.”
His point deserves some serious reflection by all of us who are leaders in today’s church. Why do we do what we do? Why are we in positions of leadership anyway? Is the “fruit” of our leadership the building of our own kingdoms, our own success stories? Or are we truly about “kingdom-building” and see our role as one of many who buy into the whole and,as a result, build the body of Christ in the places where we are called to serve?
When was the last time you invited someone to share the journey of ministry with you? Are you actively looking for your successor in the style of leadership you currently use? Are you mentoring potential leaders as you lead? Are you being mentored by someone who is unafraid to challenge your ministry and question your method? Are you looking to succeed, . . . or to bear fruit?
I love this time of the year – it’s the season when high schools, church groups, and others conduct their annual “fruit sales.” I go crazy when these order forms come in because I absolutely love grapefruit and navel oranges! I order them faithfully and delight in them annually. Did you catch the wording? I delight in them annually.
If someone hadn’t planned on orange trees bearing fruit annually and worked tirelessly for an aging orange tree to be succeeded by another, the succulent taste of a juicy, navel orange would only be a distant memory in my taste buds. But thanks be to God for fruit growers and tree pruners and dedicated harvesters and long-range planners who make sure that bearing fruit is more than just a one-time success.
May it be true for us in the church as well as we commit ourselves to “developing principled Christian leaders.”
It is, quite simply, a “Call to Action.”
The Journey Continues, . . .
By: Bishop Thomas Bickerton On 12/21/2009
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