Unit 3: What’s it all about? — Redefining Significance and Success
Session 2: Redefining Success and Significance
Lesson Passage: Read Ecclesiastes 2:1-11; 12:13-14
This lesson asks the question, “Where do I look for fulfillment in life?” Here are the main points.
The Insanity of Pleasure (Eccl. 2:1-3)
What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? How do I find fulfillment in life? Do these questions sound familiar? In Ecclesiastes we see the record of Solomon’s empirical experiment to answer these questions of life. We see in Eccl. 2:1-3, that Solomon begins his search by pursuing pleasure– any and every pleasure he could think of. Today, we would say that Solomon was in pursuit of the “the good life.” It is a life focused on self-gratification and materialism. As a result of his experiences, even as his mind was numbed by overindulgence in wine, Solomon discovered that a life in pursuit of pleasure only is empty.
The Uselessness of Stuff (Eccl. 2:4-11)
Next, Solomon tests whether achievement and accumulation of wealth are meaningful. He built huge homes, planted beautiful vineyards, built gardens and parks, and financed great public works to benefit society. All the while, his household grew, he made lots of money, he had the best entertainment money could buy, and he had power and fame. In Eccl. 2:8, Solomon says, “I had everything a man could desire!” However, all the while, with the wisdom he received from God, he concluded at the end of it all that everything he achieved, everything that he had worked so hard for was meaningless. He described it like trying to chase the wind.
The Fulfillment of Following God (Eccl. 12:13-14)
Solomon concludes his experiment and comes to realization that true significance, success and fulfillment come from one Source, God. “Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person” (Eccl. 12:13). Fear is an expression of piety and respect for God. We fear God when we are keenly aware of God’s awesome, holy presence and live a life of obedience to God with attitudes and behaviors that are consistent with this realization. The whole duty of humanity is to revere and obey God. Alternatively stated, the purpose of man is to glorify God (Isa. 43:1-7).
Ecclesiastes concludes with verse 14 that says, “God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.” God will hold us accountable not only just for our actions, but also for the motivations that produce them. But, here’s the good news! We now have Jesus. He is able to change us in us and enable us to do right. We as Christians, not only just know what is right and what is wrong, but have the ability to right and are declared to be right with God through Jesus.
Here are some questions for you.
Please reply, we really would like to hear what you think.
- How do you define success?
- What are your tips for living a successful life?
February 8th, 2009 at 1:06 am
In preparing this post and thinking about success, I was challenged by these words from a sermon by John Piper (www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary). In his sermon, Piper shares that there are 13,000 ethnolinguistic groups in the world. He goes on to say that 6,850 of these people groups are fewer than 2% evangelical Christians and 1,568 of those are unengaged. That means there are no believers in Christ and no missionaries working among them. In this context, he addresses the reason why the 1,568 people groups are unengaged.
“No, it isn’t for lack of money that there are 1,568 peoples with no missionaries. It’s because we have so much. The comforts of the West have made us soft and cautious and fearful and indulgent and self-protecting, instead of tough and risk-taking and bold and self-controlled and self-sacrificing.”– (Piper, October 26, 2008)
I have to pray, “Lord forgive me!”
February 9th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I have to admit that at one point in my life I defined success by (1) level of education (2) great paying job - and the definition of a great paying job continued to change from year to year in college (3) and the amount of stuff one is able to capture in life. Well, that definition has quickly changed. I think many of us struggle to find significance outside of the trappings of “American life” and our culture.
However, I now define success as fulfilling my purpose for which God has called me - to tell others about a God who loves them so much. I define success as having a fruitful and godly marriage. I define success as leading my children to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and modeling a life that gives glory to God for them. I define success as having one more day to “do it all over again” but this time to “get it right.”
February 27th, 2009 at 8:21 am
As I read Dawn and Michael’s post, it became clear to me that success is different for each of us. I believe how we define it depends on a number of factors. One factor is that it depends on the passions that drive us. Michael’s heart is toward missions. Though what he has shared about the lack of missionaries and our ill-placed priorities is true, it does not necessarily register on all of our success monitors. The passions that are in our own hearts may contribute to the way each of us individually define success.
Another factor that contributes to how we define success is our walk (or lack of walk) with God. As Dawn said, at one time all the worldly trappings was her target and defined success for her. But that was changed as she allowed God to “take over” and be on the throne of her heart. Other factors that contribute to our definition of success may even be experiences and/or life stages.
How do I define success? My definition of success encompasses all of the above factors and then some. I believe that success lays in the accomplishment of earthly goals–money, job position, family, home. If I did not, I would not strive at my work and at play everyday. I also believe that success is the fulfillment of God’s calling, whether it is missions, evangelism, teaching as well as a successful walk with God through prayer, Bible study, worship, and so forth. But for me there is a common thread that ties it all together. In everything I do, I want to bring glory to God (1 Cor. 10:31). If I fail at this, then I have not been successful in anything.