Successful or Fruitful?

In this guest article, veteran Christian leader Dan Reiland asks: Are we measuring success in ministry the wrong way?

In our fast-paced, high demands, pressure-packed ministries—sometimes the lines of successfulness and fruitfulness can become blurred. Read and reflect on these thoughts and see what the Spirit stirs within you.

Power ties and power lunches have given way to Starbucks and business casual in jeans but the desire for success hasn’t changed. Leadership success isn’t as bold and brash as it once was. Red neckties have been replaced with colored wrist bands about things we care about, but we are still sending messages. We still want success. In thousands of conversations with pastors, I can’t remember a time when even one said to me: “Dan, my dream is to be a failure. Yup, that’s me. I just want to fail.”

I don’t want to fail either, I want to be successful like you do. But the longer I lead the more I reflect on the idea of success. I’ve come to believe that it’s more complicated than simply the difference between numbers and heart. Success requires honesty about the numbers and full engagement of the heart. It’s not one or the other. I think what’s on my mind is more about the fact that success, as commonly defined, doesn’t last.

Kingdoms crumble, empires fall, and churches close. Revivals and movements have their time and they are done. Don’t get me wrong, there are amazing results from these things, but what we ultimately aim for makes a huge difference. Who we are on the inside shapes the success we target on the outside.

Let me say again, success is a good thing. There are more than two dozen references specifically to success or successful in scripture (NIV). And dozens more implied. I love the passage in Joshua 1.

¹ After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. ⁷ Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

But continuing with the question of success or fruit, let me quote the late Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) from his devotional book, Bread for the Journey.

“A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another’s wounds.”

I don’t know where Nouwen might have taken this thought had he developed it further. But my mind and heart connects it to the fruit of the Spirit and a reminder for all of us who are church leaders about keeping our aim on biblical success.

The list of fruit in Galatians 5 and the imagery in John 15 are clear. John 15:16-17 is a great summary:

¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

Metaphors often break down if you push them too hard or too long. They aren’t meant to stand a courtroom trial, only to open a window or picture of insight. So perhaps we don’t need to wrestle with the perishable nature of fruit—back again to things that don’t last. But if you will allow me a little creative license, I think the idea still holds together. It’s true that fruit doesn’t last, it will spoil, even rot and be wasted. Unless, it is used for its intended purpose. Then the delicate, nurturing, short-lived, appealing, fragile, easily bruised and refreshing food becomes life-sustaining.

From the fear that Joshua faced to the delicate nature of the fruit of the Spirit within us, we gain insight to what God might have us to understand if we care to see a difference between success and fruit. I think definitions matter. What will last and what won’t last matters. It’s not my desire to offer “answers” in this article, but only to stir your thoughts and give you and opportunity to reflect and connect with the Holy Spirit’s wisdom for you and your church.

Lest you think there is absolutely nothing practical in this article. Let me say that it’s easy to assess success with such things as your worship attendance, how many campuses you have, and your budget numbers. It’s easy to look at a new worship auditorium and feel successful. It’s easy to see a thriving Sunday School attendance or large number of missionaries and be impressed. These are all good things, but what will last? It’s the fruit of changed lives.

I think fruit may look more like a little kid in the 4 year old room who is scared and wants his mom, but for just a few minutes got a picture of Jesus’ love from a volunteer teacher. Fruit that lasts may be more about a young pastor who is unsure about his leadership who gets honest before God and the people he leads. The fruit of John 15 may be more about the heart of a congregation rather than the size of a congregation.

If you are thinking “I know all this.” Then let me ask you which you get more excited about. Go ahead, no one is listening, be honest. Do you get more excited about a day with a big attendance and a sermon that was really good or about a quiet and little known story of someone who took just a small step toward Jesus? I think when leaders are honest about it that’s a tough question, because everyday pressures pull us away from cultivating fruit.

Are these things mutually exclusive? No. Big buildings and changed-lives can absolutely go together. My point is that they won’t go together if you don’t fight with everything you have to make it so. With your brokenness and Jesus strength, with your gifts and the Holy Spirit’s power, give your leadership to lessen the difference between success and fruit. Think about these questions. Where does your time and energy go? What gets you excited? What discourages you? What keeps you awake at night? What fires up your congregation? What de-motivates them? Your answers to these questions will give you insight to the issue of success or fruit in your church.

Success or fruit—semantics or reality? That’s for you and God to wrestle down. My prayer is that we all wrestle this and give ourselves to the things that last.

Be blessed and thanks for all you do!

This article is used by permission from Dr. Dan Reiland’s free monthly e-newsletter The Pastor’s Coach available at www.INJOY.com. Copyright 2007, INJOY PO Box 2782, Suwanee, GA 30024.

First published on the Pneuma Foundation (parent organization of PneumaReview.com) website. Later included in the Fall 2021 issue of The Pneuma Review.