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From Luke’s Journal Sept 2025 | Vol. 30 No. 2 | Success-Failure

During the pandemic, I was frequently invited by the media to share my knowledge as a public health physician. There was a part of me that really enjoyed being able to successfully use one’s training to make a difference at such a time.

But for me, such recognition aggravates a long-term struggle with “success” that I can probably trace back to my family of origin (FoO). I am inclined to find my significance and purpose in my professional successes. I am guessing many of you identify with this, given that medicine self-selects people with low self-esteem who habitually overachieve to gain esteem!

“Of course, aiming for success is being a good steward of the opportunities and skills that God has given each of us. Maybe ambition can be spiritually healthy?”

Of course, aiming for success is being a good steward of the opportunities and skills that God has given each of us. Maybe ambition can be spiritually healthy? But what about when our identity becomes more wrapped around success than Christ? The Bible has a simple term for that: idolatry. Of course, success and having a positive impact on people’s lives through our contributions to health and medicine are not, in themselves, bad, but they become, in Tim Keller’s words, “counterfeit gods” when they displace God, and our God-given responsibility to our family and His church.

In our medical career, we risk building towers of success to be noticed, appreciated, praised or just needed.

This is what I believe is being described in the story of the Tower of Babel:

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:4 NIV).

What did the people do wrong?

The people aimed to make a name for themselves. They displaced God’s name, and it did not end well!

Perhaps we might ask ourselves, how often are we striving to make a name for ourselves rather than for our God?

There are other areas where we might risk making a name for ourselves or encouraging others to do the same. As parents, we risk laying the foundations for our kids to build a Tower of Babel as we celebrate and reward our kids’ academic and sporting achievements (back to my FoO!). My grandmother didn’t ring me to congratulate me on losing, but I had plenty of calls when I won. I also had an older brother who was/is highly competitive and was celebrated for his successes. For me, identity and success became intertwined.

“Postera Crescam Laude means “to be esteemed by future generations”. But striving for success and being esteemed will never meet our deep spiritual needs.”

Our universities and professions reinforce this by rewarding successes and encouraging us to build our reputations. My university has seemingly borrowed directly from Genesis 11:4 for its motto (and that’s not a good thing!). Postera Crescam Laude means “to be esteemed by future generations”. But striving for success and being esteemed will never meet our deep spiritual needs. The tower might look good, but ultimately, the tower buckles under the weight of our own ego!

Faithful is Successful

Faithful is Successful reflects my journey battling the idols of success and the temptation to make sacrifices to them. Actually, the book “wrote me”. The concept started in Washington DC at a fellowship meeting for “successful” Christian academics. We decided to embark on a book project where we (“successful” academics) would describe what faith looks like in our successful careers and how this success can be a witness to God.

However, the book’s aim was problematic. Over time, we became deeply convicted about the danger of this approach. Justin Denholm starts his chapter with, “You are a person with many gifts and a calling for your life. You have the opportunity to succeed in your chosen field and to glorify God with your influence. Your competence and intelligence will attract people to faith in Christ. If you were to turn away from using your skills and abilities to further your career, you would not be a faithful steward of what you have been given.”

“Your competence and intelligence will attract people to faith in Christ. If you were to turn away from using your skills and abilities to further your career, you would not be a faithful steward of what you have been given.”

He continues to say this is the most dangerous paragraph he has ever written; spiritualising secular success can hide our idolatry and sinful desires can be used to justify neglecting family, church and ministry. Sins of which I have been guilty.

We can bring glory to God through our worldly accolades, but it is dangerous to make that the aim. There are exceedingly few biblical examples of “worldly” success bringing glory to God. Certainly not Jesus! He did not become an earthly king or overthrow Roman rule, but instead died on a cross as a humiliated failure in the world’s eyes.

Joseph and Daniel are perhaps the closest examples of biblical characters who used worldly success for God’s glory. Yet they weren’t ambitious for power or success. They came to power obliquely. One was kidnapped and the other sold into slavery, but through their faithfulness to God in failure and trouble, they found themselves in positions that reflected worldly success.

Ultimately, when we are ambitious and successful, there is a very fine line between pointing people to Jesus and pointing them to ourselves. We should ask ourselves, “Who is really getting the glory?” Additionally, I have found that it’s often not our successes, but more so our failures and what we do with them, that testify God. Our book, Faithful is Successful, could perhaps be called “Failing Faithfully”. Indeed, it was often through failure and weakness that biblical characters like Moses, Gideon and Paul grew in their dependence on God and so achieved His mission.

For me, the very week we envisioned this book, I encountered very real challenges and failures that turned my whole life, work, ministry and family upside down. The crisis, or what I term a “severe mercy”, began with the birth of my first child, who was born with multiple severe disabilities. We were in India, and the condition was incompatible with living in the developing country that God has called us to. Life never returned to “normal”. “Failure” to achieve in the ways that I thought I was supposed to, became a constant companion.

Failure is the greatest teacher

But “failure, the greatest teacher is“ according to Yoda (and the Bible)! My daughter, Abby, taught me that if I continued to seek and gain my ultimate meaning from earthly successes, then Abby would always be an abject failure. She would never talk or walk, let alone study medicine, write editorials and make a name for herself. If I continued to judge meaning from earthly success, then Abby would remain a failure, and her life would be meaningless. Whilst I was a successful “do’er”, Abby was a successful “be’er”. Her “success” was in some ways already assured in being a beloved child of God and being created in God’s image! She was not tempted by the idol of success to make a name for herself.

“The other authors also wrote similarly about how it’s often how we fail that best reveals Jesus, and it’s in our failure (not our success) that we find Christ closest to us.”

The other authors also wrote similarly about how it’s often how we fail that best reveals Jesus, and it’s in our failure (not our success) that we find Christ closest to us. I believe that, at times, it can even be right to choose to “fail” in the world’s eyes. This reflects the upside-down kingdom of God which prioritises humility and meekness over recognition. I can think of several decision points in my life when I chose “failure” in the world’s eyes and they have directed me along the right path. Perhaps the most significant one was giving up the opportunity to be the next Chief Health Officer, and instead, going to work in rural India. I loved my work in the Department of Health, and some colleagues viewed my leaving as a “decision-making failure”. In retrospect, given what emerged in 2020, God protected me (and probably you from having to see more of me on your television)!

Might God call some of us to be “average” at earthly work so you can be faithful in serving Him elsewhere? To sacrifice being the best surgeon or the head of a department to serve family, or church, or volunteer with CMDFA? Do we need to consider if striving to be “successful” in the world’s eyes requires too many sacrifices? My former boss was brutally honest. He explained that in the extremely competitive academic environment, if you are not prepared to put in long hours and sacrifice other areas of your life, then just be aware that you are competing against people who are.

But whether we follow the path where accolades may be incidental to our service, such as in academia or in medicine, or we serve quietly in the church or our homes, how do we achieve Godly success?

The answer is in the title of the book. Being faithful is being successful. Primarily, and perhaps obviously, our ultimate calling is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37 NIV).

If we aren’t doing that, then any other talk of Christian calling in our medical work is hypocrisy. Our relationship with Jesus makes everything else comparatively meaningless! Paul says it beautifully, “But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8 AMP).

Our primary identity is as a child of God, not as a successful doctor

Fulfilling our calling as Christians in our work is about serving God in the place where he has put us: in our student study group, in our hospital, in our practice. It is about being faithful in serving God in whatever role we have and in whatever position we are in. Mother or father, Sunday school leader, or faithful friend, a world-renowned surgeon or the Chief Health Officer. Ultimately, our calling or our “success” in God’s world is to be faithful wherever God has put us to achieve his eternal purposes. God might very well bestow earthly success, and He might not.

What counts is being faithful in our work. That is successful!

God might bestow disability and job failure, but if we are in a relationship with Him and seek to serve Him, then we are, in fact, successful. We do not need to succeed in the world’s eyes for God’s story to come to fruition. It is not about us or our success!

And God redeems our failure and weakness. He doesn’t just protect us, but He chooses to “succeed” by achieving His purposes through our struggles! God chooses to get His powerful message out through weakness.

Psalm 8 has a verse that says, “Through the praise of children and infants, you have established a stronghold against your enemies.” One of my favourite books, Disability and Mission, documents example after example of how God redeems weakness and uses it for His glory and purpose. Each story beautifully articulates ways that God worked through weakness, not despite the weakness. It truly reminds us that God sees things differently from how the world sees them.

A prayer, written by a friend, sums this up beautifully and provides a fitting way to conclude this discussion. It is called An Upside-Down Kingdom.

An Upside-Down Kingdom

by Cheryl Stinchcomb

The world says: Blessed are the strong and powerful, for they can get what they want.

Jesus says: Blessed are the weak, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9–10).

The world says: Blessed are you when people speak highly of you, for everyone will know of your good reputation.

Jesus says: Blessed are you when you are insulted, misunderstood and persecuted, for great will be your reward in heaven. (Matthew 5:11–12).

The world says: Blessed are the knowledgeable and educated, for they will go far in this life.

Jesus says: Blessed are those who qualify in kingdom wisdom, for God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. (1 Corinthians 1:27–29; 1 Corinthians 2:6–16).

The world says: Blessed are you when life is easy and you have everything you need, for that is where happiness is to be found.

Jesus says: Blessed are you when you suffer, for suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3–4; 2 Corinthians 4:16–18).

The world says: Blessed are those who live a good life, for God will use them.

Jesus says: Blessed are those who have messed up and know his grace, for he who has been forgiven much, loves much. (1 Timothy 1:15–16; Luke 7:44–48).

The world says: Blessed are the healthy and strong, for they can win races and achieve success.

Jesus says: Blessed are the feeble and weak-kneed, for God has chosen them to show his all-surpassing power and glory. (2 Corinthians 4:1–12).

Lord, we live in a world that craves power and riches, forgive us when we conform more to the ways of this world and help us to choose your path of humility and weakness. (Philippians 2:1–11; Matthew 20:28).

Lord, we live in a world that sees only the visible and judges on the outside, forgive us when we see only with our physical eyes and help us to see the invisible work of your kingdom around us. (2 Corinthians 4:18).

Lord, we live in a world that is temporary and will wither and die, forgive us when we are so engrained in this world that we live as if this is all there is; help us to invest in your kingdom that will last forever. (Matthew 6:19–21; 1 Peter 1:17–19).

Lord, you have made us to be in the world, but not of it. Thank you for sending Jesus to show us how to live here in this world. Give us eyes to see this world as you see it and to live here and now as citizens of your upside-down Kingdom.

Amen.

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