I’m slowly reading through Kent and Barbara Hughes’ book Liberating Ministry From the Success Syndrome. In chapter 3, Success Is Faithfulness, they are talking about how Moses effectively “ministered” by providing water from the rock. All of earth seemed to suggest that this ministry was effective. The problem came in that God had commanded Moses to speak to the rock, not strike it. Moses had disobeyed. After relaying this narrative, Kent and Barbara write:
This tremendous lesson from the life of Moses teaches us that one can be regarded as hugely successful in the ministry and yet be a failure. It is possible to give people exactly what they need–the practical exposition of God’s Word, inspiring worship, programs that wonderfully meet human needs–and yet be a failure. It is possible to be held up as a paragon of success and to receive the ardent accolades of one’s people and be a failure.
I wonder how much of our ministries are successful not because of faithfulness to God and what He’s called us to do, but because we have pragmatic success. It is easy to be driven by pragmatism and think that because good things are happening, we are successful. God, however, has a different standard. May God make us faithful.