God’s Economy: 4 Guiding Principles

Pillars of Success in God’s Economy: 4 Sustaining Principles

In navigating success within the realm of God's economy, we unravel profound insights from the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. In this exploration, we delve into the principles underpinning Jesus's approach, prompting a paradigm shift from conventional metrics to a focused, faithful commitment to our unique divine calling. Discover how success, rooted in faithfulness and purposeful alignment with God's will, transcends mere numerical achievements and societal standards.

1) Be Faithful to What God has Given Us to Do

Success is not about “how much” but about “how faithful” we are to His call and purpose to “completing that which He has given us to do.” Was Jesus successful? Was He effective? Did He achieve success efficiently? How do we know? How did he do it? Let’s start by going to the end, captured in the prayer recorded in John 17.4-5. “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” Jesus glorified God by completing the specific work that God gave Him to do. Jesus was successful – He glorified God – not because He accomplished everything, but because He accomplished what God gave Him to do. Our purpose is to glorify Him - to accomplish not all, but that particular focus He has given us to do. We must beware of false economies—even idols—that say bigger is better or that growth means success. It is about how faithful and obedient we are to what ever He gives us to do. If we are faithful whatever size we are will have far greater impact and influence that we can imagine.

What is it God has given us to be faithful to? How are we being obedient to this?

2) Learn to say “No”

Jesus did not try to do everything. He walked away from need. He knew what to say “no” to (Luke 4: 42 and 5:16). Jesus was successful, not because he tried to do everything, but because He knew what He had to focus on. He did not heal nor feed nor preach to every one. He had priorities and He stuck to them despite sometimes being surrounded by great need.

Too often we fall into the trap of thinking ‘it is all dependent on me’ or ‘if I don’t do it, it won’t happen’. Our ego and pride begin to drive us. Jesus knew that the most important thing for Him to do was what His Father had sent Him to do, not everything else. Being a good leader means being a good follower, taking God’s lead and putting our faith and trust in Him and following His priorities for us.

How did Jesus know what God had called him to do? Did He come with this coded in His DNA or scripted into His mind as part of the incarnation? Apparently not. He said: “By myself I can do nothing ... for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me” John 5:30. “I tell you the truth the Son can do nothing by himself he can only do what he sees his Father doing because what ever the Father does the Son does also.” John 5:19

3) Spend time alone with God

Therefore the busier Jesus got, the more demands and opportunities He had, the more He got away to spend time with God. In Luke 4:42 and 5:16 we see that He frequently withdrew – to listen to God’s will and priorities. Jesus needed the solitude to be with, listen to, take His lead from, and learn His priorities from God. If we don’t get this right, nothing else will matter. As J. Ortberg says: It is in solitude we gain our freedom from the forces of society that will otherwise relentlessly mold us. If Jesus needed direction from God to determine His priorities, how much more do we need this? He needed this solitude to resist the cultural and individual temptations of popularity, of ego and pride. In Luke 4:13 we see how Jesus was tempted to:

• Turn stones into bread – Wow! What an income-generating strategy. More people could be fed. The end would justify the means.

• Jump and let the angels save Him - Increase name recognition, brand identity.

• Rule over all the Kingdoms of earth - To be powerful; the biggest and best.

Each time, Jesus resisted with God’s Word and Satan left Him. Jesus continued to face these temptations throughout His ministry, as all Christian organizations will. We need to remain in God in order to resist temptation and bear much fruit (John 15:3-6). There is a spiritual dimension at work that can only be determined by being with God. Seeking to hear His voice, discerning His way, does not happen by osmosis. We have to work at it, to be “disciplined about it” and as rigorous as any thing else we do. The disciplines of prayer and fasting, biblical reflection is as important to future planning than any professional strategy exercise. Let’s be careful that we don’t by-pass the relationship with Him to get on with the activity – and start worshiping at the altar of what we do for Him. Lets be sure we don’t fall to the temptations Satan brings our way. The bigger is better and must mean God is blessing us and/or that we must be willing to stoop to questionable marketing techniques – in order to obtain this “blessing” of growth and size.

4) Focus on people

People were His method and He concentrated on a few. Jesus chose just twelve disciples, but developed them in-depth. He invested time, energy, and teaching in these few so they could replicate their changed lives in the lives of others. Again we see how important prayer was in his recruitment process. In Luke 6;12, He went away and spent all night in prayer before selecting the disciples. Prayer was how He determined who were the right people to get on the bus. Then, once He got the right people on the bus, He focused on in-depth training and building them for replication, multiplication, leverage, influence and impact.

Christian organizations are in the “people business”. And yet so much of our attention gets taken up with projects and programs. We can easily lose sight of the goal. People don’t follow programs, they follow other people. It is not about using people to accomplish programs. It is about building people up, developing and equipping them, to accomplish the works of the Kingdom (Eph, 4:12).

We must never lose sight of the fact that it is about people. Christian organizations can only be successful - can only accomplish our purpose - through people. We can get the finance systems, IT, strategy, and governance all right, but if we don’t get the people part right, it won’t matter.

Final Encouragement

As we rightly seek to become better at what we do, grow and achieve more for God, we need to hear the clear warning in Scripture. Moses warned “you will become satisfied, prosperous and enjoying the fat of the land, forgetting God and saying look what we have done” (Deut. 30-32). Abundance and prosperity often leads to pride which leads to destruction. We must guard against pride and ego. God’s blessing - Success - is not tied to growth but to faithfulness. He is the source of any success. Success will not be determined by doing all, but by being faithful in accomplishing only that which He has given us to do.

In Ephesians 3:14 and 20-21, Paul's prayer encapsulates the essence of God's economy of success. It emphasizes that the power working within us transcends our limitations, enabling achievements beyond our wildest imagination. God's economy isn't confined by conventional measures; it's about His transformative power at work within us. It's a realm where His glory shines eternally, surpassing all expectations and human comprehension.