We seem to be having a difficult time today deciding what is successful and what is not. The same with what is successful and not. I was told by a friend that men holding hands in certain countries in Africa had to do with a successful partnership. The definition of successful partnership was that there was a partnership at all. Whether all that is true or not, the fact is that we have a hard time being efficient in ministry because we cannot define what success is.
Talking about success and failure and efficiency especially when in contact with ministry gives me a headache
Here is a shot by G.K. Chesterton
“Efficiency,” of course, is futile for the same reason that strong men, will-power and the superman are futile. That is, it is futile because it only deals with actions after they have been performed. It has no philosophy for incidents before they happen; therefore it has no power of choice. An act can only be successful or unsuccessful when it is over; if it is to begin, it must be, in the abstract, right or wrong. There is no such thing as backing a winner; for he cannot be a winner when he is backed. There is no such thing as fighting on the winning side; one fights to find out which is the winning side. If any operation has occurred, that operation was efficient. If a man is murdered, the murder was efficient. A tropical sun is as efficient in making people lazy as a Lancashire foreman bully in making them energetic…………..But both are efficient when they have been effected; and inefficient until they are effected. A man who thinks much about success must be the drowsiest sentimentalist; for he must be always looking back. If he only likes victory he must always come late for the battle. For the man of action there is nothing but idealism.”
