The Key to Success is... Dying

God's counter-intuitive ways

I am a strategist for a mission organization, which is why some of my blog posts are on strategy; although this blog is essentially a hobby, which is why so many posts are on other topics. My job has taken me through a host of books and articles on organizational strategy. It's amazing how few of them recognize Jesus' strategies, in view of his success in changing history. Although, actually it's not so amazing, because of the personal challenges Jesus' approach entails.

In John 12:20-26, Jesus' popularity was at its peak. He had just entered Jerusalem in great triumph, hailed by nearly all. People from other countries were seeking him out, and he said, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified."

Well, that was a perfectly obvious statement! Look at how successful he was. He was a rising star! Everything was looking up for him!

But no, not so obvious after all, for this was not the kind of glory Jesus was talking about. Quite abruptly, in fact, he changed the subject (or so it seemed). He started to talk about dying. He pointed out that a grain of wheat bears no fruit unless it goes into the ground, is buried, and "dies." Then it produces fruit, a hundredfold. Let's not get hung up on the fact that a seed doesn't literally die; it's an analogy, not a science lesson. And the grain, which is buried, then broken from within, is a good analogy.

Walk with me down a personal strategy-planning path for a moment. Planners typically start by calling for a personal or organizational vision. We all have different dreams of what we would like to do or to be. Picture yourself having the success you've hardly dared even to dream about. Maybe you're leading a Sunday School with a hundred people in your class. Maybe your small business is expanding into dozens of cities. Maybe your church is growing 10% every year for the next 20 years. Maybe you're planting churches in Cambodia or solving real hunger problems in Eritrea. Maybe your children are growing up into people of strong character and wonderful community impact.

Whatever your dream is, try to place yourself there in that picture of the future. Imagine this success has happened, this dream has come true. Now rewind the tape of time and see what has brought you there. What did you do to see this happen?

Now for Jesus' hard message. In rewinding your tape, did you see yourself going through any kind of death? Did you see yourself giving up yourself for the sake of others, for God? Was your imagined path to glory a linear rise, or did it include the descent into burial? We're not speaking of a literal, physical death of course, but the giving up of our own self-seeking, our love for our own lives, our own agendas.

God is by no means opposed to our succeeding, and in this passage he promises honor to those who do it God's way. But it is the humble who are exalted; God is opposed to the proud. If Jesus had taken the obvious path to glory, he would have been standing in the way of God's purposes and would have been stopped. In view of who he was--God himself in the flesh--this was a choice he never would have made, of course. But how many of us, even in hopes of Christian ministry, have seen early successes and thought the road to final success went upward in a straight line? How many of us have become discouraged, defeated, and have given up when faced with the death of our dream or our pride?

Jesus followed the path of deepest descent, and received glory far above any other. His strategy is summarized well in the passage we've been talking about in John 12:

He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.

Posted: Sat - May 28, 2005 at 07:09 AM |

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson getCategoryName("<$CategoryUUID$>");

The Key to Success is... Dying

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson