"Success"

I just saw something that really upset me. It was a full-page ad for a Christian college in a magazine. The college claimed to be a road to "success". To represent "success", it showed a picture of a well-dressed businesswoman holding a fancy portfolio. That may seem normal to most people. I don't know, maybe as a business student in my own college, I've seen too much of it. But I immediately thought, "Why does everyone picture success as a well-dressed businesswoman with a fancy portfolio? Is that the only definition of success?" I, for one, don't believe it is. As I read the other articles in that same magazine, I saw stories about how Christians were rebuilding hurting communities, planting churches, and growing in Christ. There was joy, hope, and confidence there, and I felt an excitement that maybe, someday, I could be like those people. Only after I had flipped through a lot of the magazine did I find that ad, and it seemed to me incongruous.

What is the definition of "success"? The articles in that magazine would seem to say that loving and serving God and our fellow man would constitute success. That view seems to match up with what God tells us in the Bible. The advertisement, on the other hand, seemed to take for granted that "success" means making a lot of money (at least, enough to wear nice clothes and carry a fancy portfolio) and having status in some business (she looked really important). These things, money and status, are what the world values. Everywhere at school, I hear tips on how to get a "good job", which include dressing for the part like the woman in the ad. Only in the meetings of the Christian college organization do I hear tips on how to grow closer to God and love other people as He does.

I don't mean to criticize the Christian college that placed that ad, or the magazine that printed it. That's why I have deliberately withheld their names. I know that that image, the well-dressed businesswoman or -man, is the image that most people have when they think of "success". I just think that image needs to be rethought.

What about you? What is "success" for you?