successfulness and fruitfulness

So many pastors and churches want their ministries to be successful. Perhaps that is the wrong focus. How great to be working toward a fruitful ministry instead. Success passes, but fruit remains (John 15:16).

Another great quote from Nouwen...

Fruits That Grow in Vulnerability

There is a great difference between successfulness and fruitfulness. Success comes from strength, control, and respectability. A successful person has the energy to create something, to keep control over its development, and to make it available in large quantities. Success brings many rewards and often fame. Fruits, however, come from weakness and vulnerability. And fruits are unique. A child is the fruit conceived in vulnerability, community is the fruit born through shared brokenness, and intimacy is the fruit that grows through touching one another's wounds. Let's remind one another that what brings us true joy is not successfulness but fruitfulness.

- Nouwen, Bread for the Journey (Jan. 4)