The Church successful vs. The Church victorious

At first glance it may appear that there is not much difference between the successful church and the victorious church. However, when we are bold enough to put things on the right ground and maintain them in the spiritual and not the temporal, there is an enormous difference. The ways and philosophies of the world have made their way into the church, sometimes creeping in unaware, other times welcomed in the front door. So it is no wonder we would interchange success for true victory in Christian’s lives. This is the subject that has befuddled me for sometime. It takes neither a scholar nor a theologian to note that things in America are on a very bad footing. The Spiritual man would certainly be aware that America is spiritually bankrupt as Leonard Ravenhill noted some 40 years ago. So I do not think it would be a stretch to say that our bankruptcy has now been bailed out by the devil and much of America’s assets transferred to him. Yet so many churches and Christians seem to be successful, multiple services, large budgets, dynamic programs and a seemingly endless flow of teachings. Still, the nation around us is undone, God is mocked, and souls perish. We have more churches, bigger buildings and more services and we seem to be very successful in our endeavors as they pertain to our Christian subculture, however we are ineffective in our battles against the strongholds entangling our nation. So you see the contrast dilemma. We have traded success for true Biblical cross based victory.

Success in the west is defined by winning, being first, being best, occupying the winners circle. The big ‘I’ is all important, what I can accomplish, what I can achieve and what I have done. Let us not be misled about what man can accomplish fallen though he is. Ancient man had to be thwarted by God least he would build a tower to the sky. God stated, “And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.” It is very important to remember that man is not refuge nor as some would have you believe evolving into something beautiful. It is much more tragic than this. Man was indeed something beautiful, and could have eternally been so had he had eaten from the tree of life. Instead he is like a beautiful vase that has been broken beyond repair and hastily put back together, its former beauty can be seen yet it will never be able to hold water and fulfill it’s function. Man is that vessel. Having done his best to piece himself together glimpses of his beauty and genius still may cast shadows. While he celebrates his successes, he has no victory over sin, no victory over death. His victories are hollow and short-lived. In contrast God’s victory is always deep and eternal. Success has to do with me, victory has to do with what God has done, and only what God can do. The church in America knows how to win, how to succeed. It unfortunately does not know how to lose, to die and to let go. There is much said today about overcoming, overcoming one’s trials, overcoming circumstances and difficulties. But this is not the overcoming or victory that we should be seeking. The victory we should be pursuing is not ours but God’s. True victory comes under the Lordship of Jesus, where the Father gets what the Father desires. Where the victory that was accomplished at the cross is testified to by obedience and submission to the Father. Often times preachers will use the phrase the word works and Indeed it does. God has set forth laws and principles, His gifts and callings are without repentance. Like a parent giving useful gifts unto a child they want it to be a blessing, and they’re hoping that it will be used responsibly, unselfishly, and for a greater purpose. A child’s response to the gift and how he uses it speaks to the issues of his heart. In similar fashion God bestows blessings on His church. He will in time test the hearts, to see if we claim the gifts as our own, or as Abraham did we willingly place them on the altar in acknowledgment that our eyes are on the gift giver not the gift, on the originator of the promise and not the promise.

You see it is quite possible to take the blessings and giftings of God and build. We may indeed do some good, touch some hearts, dispense life advice and provide distracting activities for God’s people, but we will not be building the kingdom. Our endeavors may in a fashion be successful, our ideas of God may be satisfied, our egos stroked, and our life choices fulfilled. Nonetheless there will be dryness in our souls. We use terms like International ministry, mega-church, and world missions. While there may be truth in these labels there is quite a difference in the realities of the New Testament ministries and ours. The apostle Paul birthed no more than 14 churches that we know of these he worried about (2 Corinthians 7:28) and cared for always, hoping his work would not be in vain. Most of his work to these churches was self-funded by his own hands. His victory was not marked by his overcoming prison, poverty, and persecution. It was marked by the life of Christ flowing from his prison cells. By the riches of Christ flowing from his poverty and the grace and love of Christ flowing to those persecuting him. These are examples of the more than conqueror in Romans 8. When the adversity of the enemy comes against us, we do not shore up our own strength, we die to ourselves, acknowledge our weaknesses and let the resurrection life of Christ defeat the enemy. Truly when we are weak we are strong.

The pattern of our Lord Jesus’s Ministry runs contrary to today’s concept of a successful ministry. He did indeed start out with crowds following Him, He taught them, fed them, and healed them. For a while they were willing to follow, then His call for discipleship in Luke 14 thinned the crowds, followed by His proclamation in John 6, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” This significantly reduced His following. From this time on He was constantly preparing His disciples for His suffering and death, though they rarely apprehended its significance until it was too late. In the end they all deserted Him. It was at this time that Satan brought His greatest onslaught, convinced that the desertion of His disciples and friends, the persecution of the religious leaders, the power of the state, and lastly death itself would conquer Him. Yet Satan’s plan would be thwarted, not by positive confession, not by successful thinking, nor by properly crafted prayers, but by the simple supplication ‘not my will but Thine be done,” followed by the letting go of His life and entrusting it into his Father’s care. Satan’s conquest was short lived, the conqueror was met with the more than conqueror by the word in the will of the Father. We will never overcome the world using the worlds philosophies and success formulas. Only by putting our faith in Jesus the One greater than us the One, other than us, the One who has won the victory and eternally possesses. I leave you with these two scriptures humbly challenge you to shun the success of the world and religion and embrace the more than conquering victory in Jesus.

“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelations 12:11