About the Difference Between Meaningful and Successful⤒🔗

The topic of this chapter needs to be considered in this booklet. After the survey in the Old and New Testament and the confession of our Christian faith in regard to the purpose of life, the question cannot be ignored: what now constitutes a meaningful life in practice? Does a meaningful life equate to a life well lived in the public eye? Is a meaningful life the same as a successful life? And if not, what is the difference? Why is each successful life not also a meaningful life? And can we not measure life by the degree of success that someone has obtained?

A dictionary may note with the word ‘success’: the accomplishment of an aim; the attainment of wealth, fame, or position; a thing or person that turns out well; other meanings are described that include a favourable result.

Inadvertently people may wonder if all the meaning attributed to life does not aim for a good ending. If something turns out bad, it would prevent us from speaking of it as being meaningful. At first glance it is not precluded to closely connect meaning to success. The question is, however, whether further reflection would conclude more of a difference than a similarity. We will attempt to have a closer look at both concepts.

Modern Advertising←⤒🔗

These days we are guided by modern ways of advertising. Its intention is to kindle our desire to buy, to present a product as indispensable and essential for a successful life. A much more in-depth process is taking place, of course, in modern advertising. It appeals to the viewer or reader as an often subconscious desire. It initiates and activates our desire. Once it has been set in motion, it is hard to stop its progress.

Within that process we meet the factor of “success” in two ways. In the first place, people who own the recommended product are presented as successful people. The product becomes part of a successful life. It is an indispensable part of the beautiful picture with which we are presented.

And so we arrive at the second manner in which the product is associated with success. Anyone who wants to be successfull needs to have this product. Anyone who wishes for a successful life can no longer ignore the promoted item. The success of the other person, through the advertised product, serves as a mirror for your own success. You cannot succeed without owning it. Succeeding means: to be happy, to have a good feeling, to be comfortable in life.

We can speak of a specific image of mankind which is foundational in modern advertising, and which is promoted through advertising. It is the image of man who sees his wishes fulfilled. It is also the image of mankind with ever more wishes being imposed. It is the image of the consumptive man, which is seen as passively taking in all the incentives toward success. Man has to undergo these types of messages with the aim to become activated toward consumption!

The Difference Between Having and Being←⤒🔗

We all sense that this image of a successful life is rather superficial. It may leave the impression that people have been successful because their wishes were satisfied. But life consists of more than satisfying wishes. Fortunately, happiness for most people means more than having wishes fulfilled. Being successful does not imply that you have also given more meaning to your life. Success may promote a feeling of accomplishment, yet it is different from realizing sense and meaning in life. Where exactly lies the difference? How can we put into words that success is not the same as seeing meaning in life? Maybe I can put it this way: success has to do with having; a meaningful life has to do with being. These are two participles that we often use. They typify two attitudes in life. With having I, myself, am at the centre; I am the passionate owner. Everything needs to be directed toward me. I want to own it, to command it, to enjoy it, and so on. It is a self-centered life.Being is about the direction toward the outside, towards others. It implies being there for others, being of service and being meaningful to them. It points away from myself.

It appears to me that here we see the essential difference. Success belongs with having, getting, accumulating. Success is about a self-centered life. Everything is there for me, to serve me, to enhance my happiness. Meaning is connected to being, to being there for someone else, to have an impacton others, it is outward-focused. Not egocentric, but altruistic. I am not at the centre; it is outside of myself. As you read this you may think, “How does he come up with that distinction? Is this true for humanity in general? Does this hold true regardless of whether one believes or not?” I remind you of the writings of the French philosopher Gabriël Marcel, whose books were often read in the years following World War II. He made a strong distinction between “être ou avoir”: being or having.

“For whoever would save his life…”←⤒🔗

As clarification we want to pay attention to what the Lord Jesus taught us in the Gospel: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 16:25).

“Would save his life” belongs to the sphere of having, wanting to have ever more, to hold on to what you own, to determine one’s own life. It is the expression of a “self-centered” life! It is all about me.

We can dig a little deeper in the words of the Lord Jesus. The attempt to “save his life” not only expresses the holding on to yourself, to control and regulate everything by yourself, to have the final word, to be and to remain your own boss, because you hold and keep the reins in your own hands. It also expresses: being autonomous, solving your problems by yourself, and to overcome all toils and trials in your own strength. It is the attitude of a “do-it-yourself” person. He has no need of another. He is not focused on the other but is concerned only with himself.

Jesus says that a person with this kind of perspective on life will lose his life. It will not succeed. It ends up as the opposite of what was intended. You wanted to save yourself and your life, but you will lose it. It is all for nothing. No, I am not saying “all or nothing”. It is much more drastic than this radical contrast: it is everything for nothing, all for naught.

Let me go back to the theme: having success. It seems just fine. Everyone wants it. In some respects, having success belongs with “would save his life”. Being successful is the crowning touch of this aspiration. It belongs to him who succeeds in saving his life. Being successful is to have achieved your goal!

Then Jesus says such a person will lose his life. That means that all this success is for nothing. It cannot stand.

Why not? Of course that is the key question. The self-centered life of someone who pursues success reaches no further than me and myself. It does not contain anything of God, nothing of eternity, nothing of service for Christ’s sake.

“He will find it”←⤒🔗

“Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” What is that, losing one’s life for Jesus’ sake? It means that whoever has distanced himself from a self-centered life, and has lost to Jesus all his wanting to be his own master and having success, that person will find it.

In these words of Jesus there lies a powerful secret. It is the secret of his seeking, saving, redeeming love. He has come to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus Christ came to earth precisely to save those who think they can save themselves. He knows they will not succeed in a life of “do-it-yourself”. Success appears alluring, but it leaves a big emptiness. There is no content. You lose yourself in its pursuit.

Jesus has come to save lost lives. What needs to happen? You need to lose your life to him. That is the wonderful turnabout in this text: whoever wants to save his life, will lose it—and you may lose your life to him. That means that you yourself disappear from the centre, and that he becomes your focal point. He takes care of our life; he fills it up; he becomes the content and meaning of our life. Paul puts it beautifully in Colossians 3:4, “Christ, who is your life”; and in another place he writes, “For to me to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21). He takes the rudder in his hands. He directs. He becomes the Saviour and our Ruler, the Redeemer and the Master! That is the grace of “losing your life for his sake”. It is living out of the power of his sacrifice and resurrection, of being able to carry on through his Spirit!  He will find life. A life lost becomes a life found. You find it with him, in his communion, in his love and grace.

That is the transition from having, wanting to have, wanting to be successful, wanting ever more — to being, being found, being saved, being something to others.

Saved in order to save — a phrase we use often.

A Meaningful Life is Living in God’s Image←⤒🔗

To live meaningfully is the realization of a saved life that receives a task, a command from God. The meaning of our lives is that we know and love God. The question may be asked, “Is that all? Is the essence of life in God alone, without a perspective on the world, on our fellow man, on the environment?”

These three definitely belong together. They are part of the meaning of life. Man has been created in the image of God, which means he is man in relation to God. He is man with a task assigned by God. This task represents God, and touches our fellow man and the environment, his work of creation, the praise and the cultural mandate, the service of denying ourselves and to love God and our neighbour. That is the experience of being created in God’s image. That is the meaning of life!

It is not about having, but about being! It is not about being successful only for yourself, but about being God’s image bearer, to his glory and for the wellbeing of the human community! This is possible only through the Saviour, the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. He reconciled us with God. He also renews our lives, and turns our wanting-to-have into wanting-to-be of service!

Averse to Success? It Depends←⤒🔗

Does this all mean that we must have an aversion to success and that we must hate prosperity instead of pursuing it? The answer depends on what we mean by this. When success and prosperity are only means to “wanting to save your life”, then indeed we need to get rid of it! We must surrender such striving; we must renounce it—for Christ’s sake.

There is another way! Whoever has lost his life for Christ’s sake will gain it. That means a blessing will rest on it. It will stand in the grace of God. He goes along and gives strength. In that case success is not the petty business of making profits and growing richer. Success will now be a sign of God’s blessing.

When God blesses you, in turn you want to be a blessing to others. That is the rule of the kingdom of heaven. You do not keep a blessing just for yourself but instead you want to share it. Someone else may enjoy it too.

In this way we again arrive at the distinction between having or being. Having success is focused on yourself. Being blessed is being a blessing. The magnificence is that the essence of being a blessing lies not in the fact that it is so spectacular or so sensational that everyone is talking about it.

The meaning of life is contained in the glad praises for God’s goodness, in the thankfulness for his grace. It is a miracle that I may exist — because of him, through him, and unto him. It is gratitude for his salvation and his keeping us, thankful that for Jesus’ sake God will be my God!

The meaning lies also in simple service: a conversation with someone here, a visit there, and a word at the proper time for younger or older people. It is the helping hand that  never tires, the happy smile that acts to soothe pains. It is taking your place in the caring community by taking upon yourself the care for someone else — no more than you can carry, but also no less than with the strength you have received.

Success is like an inward magnet. Meaning shows instead the way to others. That is the difference. A meaningful life through service is richer than having success, something you enjoy only by yourself. A biblical thought is this: he is not rich who has, but he is rich who gives (see 1 Tim. 6:17-18).

Having or being: that is the decisive distinction. The Lord Jesus concludes the quoted passage with, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul” (Matt. 16:26)? If he had everything but was not saved in order to save, it would be all for nothing. Whoever finds his life with Christ will find everything, including the meaning of life. Realize such life and enjoy it, for Jesus’ sake!