How does one measure success?

Sometimes, it’s easy – High score wins! Low score wins! First to cross the line wins! Last one standing wins! Tab A into slot B = success! No parts left over = success! Starts up after overhaul= success! But there are many more experiences in life for which the assessment is much less clear than win/lose or success/fail.

Of course, the culture in which we live seems to provide some universal guidelines for measuring success, benchmarks we can use to assess our life’s achievements. In one’s career, salary and perks are easy measures, while authority (how many people report to us) and indispensability (how little can be done without our input) are also crucial to assessing one’s level of success. In relationship, the measurement run the gamut from who loves us, who is our friend, and how desirable are they? to are one’s children reflecting well on their parents?

In Spiritual matters, the culture seems ask but two questions: Are we happy, and if not, are we doing something about it?

In the film The Green Mile, there is an scene depicting an improperly prepared electrocution which is both arresting and gruesome. When asked by the warden what happened, Corrections Officer Paul Edgecomb, (played by Tom Hanks) responds, “An execution – a successful one.” The warden, incredulous, wonders how he could call the prolonged, graphic, painful episode a success. The answer is simple: “Edward Delacroix is dead.”

Success here is measured in its definition; what we’re after determines how we gauge whether or not we have achieved it. In the case of Edward Delacroix’s execution, success was defined, simply, as achieving the stated goal – the death of a condemned inmate. Of course, the warden’s questions demonstrate the truth, that there was much more at stake than the execution of a lawful sentence on a prisoner. We all know success is more than simply doing what one sets out to do – there is always another agenda, a fundamental truth by which we measure every thought, every action. The truth is, when it comes to defining that kind of success, the culture does a pretty poor job; objectives are set unattainably high, or using the wrong benchmarks; stated goals often have very little to do with truth, or real success.

Here in the church, success is measured by a very different standard. One way to describe it is to use one of those trusty visual aids from elementary set theory, the Venn diagram:

It all boils down to this: if we can figure out A.) our gifts and talents, and 2.) what God wants for the world, then we can measure how well we’re using our gifts to do God’s will. That is the fundamental truth, the basic agenda from which we operate – as individuals and as the church.

That is also the essence of what we Presbyterians call The Mission Study Process.  Because they begin with this fundamental premise, Mission studies can be crucial for figuring out what lies ahead for a particular congregation; not just who the next pastor will be, but also questions of property use and improvement, ministry opportunities and initiatives, and community cooperation – all with an unwavering focus on what God is calling us to do with what we have been given.

In the Mission Study process, we will be gathering data in a variety of ways to answer these basic questions:

Who are we as a congregation?

What gifts and talents do we have? What resources?

What is our community like? What opportunities for ministry can we identify?

What is God Calling us to do in this time and place?

How can a pastor help us use our gifts, talents and resources to fulfill that Call?

While the Session is entrusted with leadership of the congregation, and will appoint a Task Force to oversee this process, the fact is, each member of the congregation is essential for this mission study to be a success.

Look for more information about the Mission Study and how you can be a part of this important process here at Smyrna Church.