Success without
a happy life cannot be considered true success.
Jacob Abbott in Alexander the Great (1876) devotes a chapter talking
about Alexander’s character flaws that led to his untimely (unhappy) demise. Having achieved the highest success before
reaching 30, Alexander surrendered his life to drinking and beautiful women. He abandoned the noble qualities that made
him great in the beginning and became a reckless person hoping to find
happiness in sensual living. In doing
so, he not only destroyed his life, he also left behind him a world in total
chaos. On his deathbed; his generals
asked him as who should be his successor.
The great man gave a great answer; “whoever is worthy”. He knew he had failed to be worthy even to
name a successor let alone prepare one.
There went a greatest conqueror but an unhappy man.
Success without
a happy life is like sailing in the ocean without water. You are surrounded by huge body of water but
that water cannot quench your thirst; in fact, should you drink it, it will
make you thirstier. Though the water is
carrying you along but cannot give life.
Bill Hybels is
considered the most successful pastor by far in the world today. But the man’s life appears to be far from
happiness. In 2012, he and his family were
seated on the stage for an interview at an event called “Exponential Conference”.[1] This was probably his first public interview
together with his family even after becoming a world phenomenon for so long. Once a while he had talked and written about
the unhappy state of his marriage, but no one really thought much about that. He was always riding the waves of success for
anyone to notice the unhappiness. But
when Dave Ferguson, the interviewer at that event, asked his wife the first
question, she went on and on and on how things were terrible in their marriage
and how she was hurting in the inside in silence. Ferguson had to interrupt her because it was
becoming so gloomy a picture of a marriage of such a celebrity pastor. Children were blushing and husband was visibly
shaken. Finally when Ferguson turned to
Bill for his response, Bill struggled to find his composer. He was dislodged from his seat either by what
she said or by the fear that his well-constructed façade might come down. Anyone who watches that interview can see how
this famous man and his wife were living a life that was far from true
happiness in the face of tremendous success.
Now in her late
60s, Lynne Hybels writes in her blog, “My husband and I have been married for
over four decades. As with many couples, there were times we couldn’t
imagine making it through another year, let alone another decade or two.”[2] That is a very sad statement for any marriage
that has lasted for so long. Yes,
marriage has its fair share of hardships but to go through such marriage year
after year would certainly drain any human soul. She confesses that in her 40s, she even lost
all her faith in God and took nearly a decade for her to rediscover the love of
Christ.[3] Writing her last blog post for 2018 in March,
she still appears to be at a crossroad; “I’m not sure where this part of the
journey will lead, though I do find myself moved to good tears by the beauty of
the simple flowers I arrange into assorted vases and by the truth of the simple
words delivered via Audible from my favorite spiritual poets.” She goes on “The shape of this year is still
unfolding, but so far it holds little structure, much quiet, a fair bit of
play, my favorite people, and an intentional focus on the beauty of nature.”[4]
It is hard to
tell if she knew what was coming her way at that time but by now we can only
imagine the kind of sadness she is going through. We can also imagine the agonies Bill is going
through and his children and grandchildren who considered their dad and granddad
a great hero. If you look at the Willow
Creek Church campus at South Barrington, Illinois and the worldwide impact it
had, if you stack all what Bill has written and spoken, if you talk to people
who are impacted by this man’s leadership conferences, you can only imagine the
kind of finishing Bill would have. Sadly
the final chapter is looking so gloomy, so unhappy.
Success (whatever
that maybe) alone cannot give us happiness.
You can be happy without success but success without happiness leaves
behind a trail of destruction in the same scale of success you were chasing
after. Paul the apostle writes from
Roman prison to the Philippian church to be happy in the Lord always. Compared to Bill Hybels, Paul was a failure
but he died a happy man leaving behind a trail of life giving letters. Paul’s secret of happiness was Jesus Christ,
not success. That has not changed for us
either. Don’t be driven for success but
run after Christ and he will quench your thirst once and for all!
[3]
https://www.lynnehybels.com/blogs/happy-40th-bill-hybels-and-thank-you
(Accessed on August 10, 2018).
[4]
https://www.lynnehybels.com/blogs/2018/3/18/2018-the-year-of-the-radical-sabbatical
(Accessed on August 10, 2018).
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