What does it mean to be successful in your work? And how do you prepare for success?
These are challenging, even vexing, questions. Many think that success is denominated in terms of money and that the requisite education to land the right job is preparation for success.
But is that true? Can a person become financially wealthy and be a failure? According to Psalm 73, the answer is yes. Note the words of the psalmist about the ultimate end of the people who are financially wealthy but live in rebellion against God.
Surely You (God) set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. (Psalm 73:18 NKJV)
This means that money is not the mark of success. So apart from money, do we really know how to define true success and how to prepare for it?
Jesus provided an example of true success in life and how to prepare for it.
True success for Jesus was defined in terms of obedience to the purpose of God for his life. Note Jesus' words:
I have glorified You [the Father] on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. (John 17:4 NKJV)
In this text, Jesus, shortly before his death, reflected on his life and said he had completed his work assignment well, which meant God was glorified or manifested through everything that Jesus did and said. True success in life for Jesus was doing what God created him to do. In other words, doing God’s will according to God’s ways in every area of life.
To live a life of obedience to God requires preparation. Jesus’ preparation began early in life. Luke 2:40–52 records a story of Jesus at age twelve. His family went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. After the Passover, Jesus’ parents began their journey home but Jesus stayed behind to study with the theologians, although he was preparing to become an apprentice carpenter. This suggests that preparation for his apprenticeship was largely theological, that is, being grounded in Scripture under the tutelage of the most able teachers of his day. Jesus lived twenty-one more years, which included eighteen years as a carpenter (some think this was the equivalent of our current day general contractor) and three years as an itinerate teacher.
Most people don't view theological study as preparation for success in the workplace, but Jesus did. The seriousness with which Jesus approached his theolocial study is evident in the words he spoke to his parents when they found him studying with eminent theologians:
Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?
(Luke 2:49 NKJV)
Jesus had a profound sense that a solid foundation in the knowledge of Scripture was the best preparation for successfully finding and fulfilling God’s purpose for his life. The Luke account concludes by noting that Jesus continued to grow in wisdom and favor. This implies that wisdom and favor follow a person who is grounded in Scripture.
Here is your business tip. Organizational success must be defined as obedience to the will and ways of God. Furthermore, organizational success is the by-product of the individual successes of the stakeholders of the organization. Preparation for individual success is based on being grounded in Scripture so that a person can find and fulfill the purpose of God for his or her life. Management must develop an organizational culture that facilitates growth in sound theology as a predicate for releasing individual potential thus enabling the organization to produce an outstanding value proposition.
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