What is True Success? 1 Th. 2:1-3
In this passage the first thing that Paul says to the Thessalonians is that his visit with them wasn't a failure. What did he mean by that? Did he mean that thousands of people got saved? Did he mean that he received lots of money? Did he mean that he built a beautiful building? Did he mean that that's where he became a popular speaker? I don't believe he meant any of that. Too often today our success is based on the answers to those questions above and not what Paul was writing about. While none of those questions are necessarily bad, they can become wrong and even sinful if that is how we measure "success".
Being a in ministry i understand the numbers gig. And I want the church I'm a part of to grow not just Spiritually but numerically because that means that we're reaching the unchurched. So truth be told all churches should be trying to grow numerically because that means they are healthy and are reaching the lost. But that cannot be my only measure of success. If numbers are the only thing that dictate how successful I am then I would be willing to do anything and everything to get more "numbers" (or people) which often includes abandonment of the message of Christ.
What Paul was labeling as "not a failure" was the fact that he came and preached the message of the Gospel and lives were changed. It made a difference in the lives of those people (read Ch. 1) and that was what mattered to him. He considered it a success even after he encountered opposition and persecution. God gave him the courage to continue preaching the message despite what others were willing to do to him. Many people today would have considered themselves to have failed if they were placed in Paul's situation. Paul didn't draw a mass following - at least not for good. He drew many people who hated him, wanted to kill him, wanted him in prison (read Acts 13-27); most people wouldn't label that as successful. But Paul's success wasn't found in his following, it was found in proclaiming the Truth to anyone, anywhere no matter the cost.
True success shouldn't be measured by the results of our labor (missionary Adoniah Judson didn't see 1 convert in his first 8 years of serving on the mission field in Africa), but rather our faithfulness to God and His message of salvation and redemption. Often times the fruit of our labor doesn't show itself until a later time, but God has called us to reap and let the Holy Spirit produce the results. Thank you God for youy work in our lives...
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