Success???

In AD 451-1050, the church in Rome grew faster and there were factors that aided its growth and one of those was the invasion of the German tribes. There were doctrinal changes that happened during that time which resulted into how Roman Catholicism is today. The invasion caused into numbers of members, organized institution, and prestige. Despite what happened it was very interesting that politically and militarily Rome was defeated yet their belief or religion was still dominating. We may be able to see that despite what we call tragedy at that time there was always something good that came out of it. Politically they invaded Rome yet in terms of governance in religious activities Rome's belief was overpowering. There were a lot of big developments or changes happening yet it resulted into more dramatic and dominating in power. There was this Monasticism and the Reforms which gives the idea of power that the pope's had. A lot of activities was also done by a lot of priest like outreaches, church planting and evangelizing. Despite the  issues that were roaming around about the corruption and immorality within the church, or even though the Church used forged documents in order to have the privileges, the Church continued to grow. Persecution also immerges as the power also arises in the office of the papacy.

We saw the dramatic growth of the Church. Sometimes the growth of a church was based upon numbers but actually numbers don’t identify Church successful growth. As I reflected upon this truth, I noticed that a lot of evangelical Christian churches today are doing the same thing that they are equating growth with numbers. They are equating success in number of people within the vicinity. This kind of idea also happens to the German tribes. They thought that they were winning or victorious because they govern the land and yet they are the one who had been governed. The “misconception” is clearly seen during that time. Another misconception also and quiet interesting is the pope and bishop's power. They rule the vicinity, having a dominant and greedy attitude in acquiring position. We can see that also today, there are people around the Christian community who may have the same thinking that to be on the top makes you more powerful. Being on the top allows you to control over people.

In the Bible the Lord Jesus Christ is telling us about what is spiritual leadership. The scripture also gives us the idea of what true success mean. A quotation from the Bible that says, “Who wants to be great must be slave to everyone” and a strong reminder of God that “... Do not Lord over them just as others are doing”. This kind of mentality and character is what composes a spiritual leadership. These should be a reminder that to become a minister he or she must have the heart of a servant leader. Servant in the sense that he or she will not think of what to gain but rather for what he or she can give to others. In John chapter 15, The most repeated word was “Abide”. It was emphasize that the believer's gain is in Christ. Relationship with Christ is the primary factor of having a successful life and ministry. It is just the same thing when we meant the word “Seeking” God first. We saw that vivid picture to that in the life of Job. We know that Job in worldly perspective he was successful in every way but when testing arises we can see that the real success of Job is in his relationship with the Lord. Everything was gone yet he knows that he is wealthy because God is on his side. May it be this event reminds us about the right perspective to things and events.