Thoughts

We all love success. It is one trait in us that makes us feel complete and allows us to express our desires, purpose and expectation. The world around us says only successful people deserve to be heard and have the platform to live their lives before others as they wish and we should not have a contrary opinion because they have something we don’t have just as they have achieved things we have not and so we need to let them talk and tell us how they became so successful so we can add them to the list of other achievers we are currently trying to emulate.
This is a pattern that works. This is why footballers and musicians and actors and businessmen and entrepreneurs are idolized. They have attained that which we wish and hope for and have not attained and we can only hope to meet it by emulating them. It works in businesses, schools, hospitals and everywhere you have humans. 
Everywhere you have humans this works and that is including the Church. What is special about the church that it should not work there one might ask. There is a lot about the church that makes it a unique organization, that exempts its from certain things that are acceptable or commonplace in most areas of life but has no place in the church. The reasons are stated below.

The church is one with divine ordination.

The church does not exist to fulfill the personal desire of any of us. It is an institution that God created by his own means and ways, sustained and kept alive throughout the ages according to his divine will. The is the body of Christ, the bride of Christ, bought by the precious blood of Christ. Until God created it, there was none other like it. From its beginning, the church has been designed to break all barriers that affect human designs and  to make the brotherhood of all believers across race, social status and time such that God alone is worshipped and glorified.

The church is not your typical organization.

The church does not exist so that it can operate like your typical organization. It’s leaders are not CEOs just as their visions and their goals are not about increasing profitability, rather, they to lead the people as shepherds and fellow heirs. While in dealing with a lot of people at the same time and in the same place and within the confines of a local church can bring up its own challenge, the means and the methods are to glorify God according to his revelation in the bible.

The church is called to faithfulness not success.

The Bible was written over many centuries but speaks of the things revealed by God himself in the written form. In it we learn of his mercy and grace and interaction with man. In it we learn of the rule of faith and practice. It is the word of God that can be verified by all and not subject to private interpretation. In the bible, the church gets its guidance on how to order its business in line with the desire of her Lord and Savior. Therefore the measure of progress is not the typical signs of success like increased sales, increased popularity but obedience to God and faithfulness to his means and ways. This is the success that counts.