We all like winners, especially on the sporting field or in politics. We’re told that winners are grinners. We’re sometimes told that winning isn’t the main thing … it’s the only thing. But for every winner, there is nearly always a loser and often many, many losers.
So if we shift our thinking a little, what does success look like away from sport or politics? What does success in marriage look like, for instance? What would a successful outcome in Ukraine look like? What would a successful church look like?
One reading of the book of Acts is that the story is all about success. Large numbers of people come to trust in Jesus and new communities of faith spring up everywhere from Jerusalem to Rome. Women are involved in leadership as well as men. The Christian community models its life on the loving and inclusive ways of Jesus. Nothing, it seems, can hinder the spread of the word of God.
But there is another, darker side to the story. Mixed in with the success there is struggle and suffering. The apostles are harangued and imprisoned, Stephen is stoned to death, John’s brother James is executed by Herod and Paul stumbles from one struggle to the next, suffering floggings, imprisonments and nearly drowning. There are also struggles within the community as some groups get ignored and there are disagreements on how to handle difficult issues.
It seems as though success and struggle go hand in hand throughout the book of Acts, as they often do in our individual lives and in our community life. Depending on our personality we may view this tussle between success and struggle as the glass being half full or half empty. But when we face struggles in our walk of faith, it’s worth remembering that Jesus also faced many bitter struggles and warns his followers that they must take up their cross every day and follow in his footsteps.
We enjoy success … but struggle and suffering are part of our life too. Often the joys and successes we experience are all the sweeter if they have involved struggle. May God give us a right perspective that we might experience God’s presence and joy and peace in the midst of both our successes and our struggles.