Shattering Substitutes #5: Success

“For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.”—1 Kings 11:4

Success can get the best of us. We are a culture that celebrates success and disdains failure. But success, like any other good thing in life, can become a substitute for God. Think about the man who is driven by his work so much that he neglects his family. He promises day after day to be home in time for dinner and help put the kids to bed, but each time something comes up—another project, another emergency takes his attention away, and for one more night his children are without a father.

The idol of success can take many forms—putting off having a family, neglecting one’s family, ignoring one’s own soul care, sacrificing one’s integrity in various ethical matters, etc. And the idol of success can affect anyone—man, woman, young and old. It is one of the most subtle of idols because our culture values success so highly. We exalt those who are successful, but we often miss the collateral damage their pursuit of success leaves behind.

Solomon was a success because God had blessed him tremendously. He was quite possibly the wealthiest man in the world, with so much gold that he had his palace decorated with it (1 Kings 10:16), his throne overlaid with it (v. 18-20), and household items made with it (v. 21). Under his reign, silver was as common as stone and considered as nothing (v. 27). He collected massive numbers of chariots and horsemen from Egypt and Kue, had boats bringing him exotic birds and beasts from far off lands, and somehow amassed for himself 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:1-3).

Solomon’s blessing ended up being his burden. As he aged, he turned away from God and ended up constructing altars and temples for the gods of his foreign wives. We know that his wives turned his heart away from God, but could it be that his desire to have so much stuff ended up in abysmal failure? Doesn’t Solomon say in the book of Ecclesiastes that he tried to find satisfaction in work, buildings, and all kinds of pleasures, but it all proved to be vanity? A “chasing after the wind”?

For Solomon, it was his success that ended up bringing about his downfall. Yes, it was his wives that led him astray, but he would have never had so many wives if he hadn’t been so wealthy. The Bible warned of such a thing in the book of Deuteronomy, several generations before the Israelite monarchy had even begun. Moses had written of the future Israelite ruler, that he must not...

“…acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, 'You shall never return that way again.' And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold”—Deuteronomy 17:16-17.

Solomon did exactly what Moses had warned against. And God responded accordingly,

“And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the LORD commanded”—1 Kings 11:9-10.

It was his success that ended up being his substitute for God.  His successes became his failures, and a snare to his soul.  He becomes another example and warning for us regarding what we are not to do. Even the great, wise and wealthy king Solomon was not immune to sin. And neither are we.

Many in our world today are continually driven to succeed. And our world tells us that if we work hard enough we can accomplish anything we can put our minds to. And that well may be true in certain instances, but not always. One can work and achieve earthly financial success and still be a dismal failure from heaven’s perspective, which is the only one that matters.

How about you? Are you driven by the desire to be successful? If so, by what standard do you measure your success? We can have all of the earthly success in the world, but may lose our soul in the process, as Jesus said: “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”—Mark 8:36.

Have you forfeited your soul? Is your family suffering because of your idolatry? May God enable us to shatter the idol of earthly success and transfer our sense of approval and accomplishment to the Person of Christ. May we repent of worldly greed, acquisitiveness and the fear of man that drives us to desire reputation and earthly accomplishment devoid of spiritual value. Jesus gave Himself to die in order that we might truly live. May God enable us to recalibrate our understanding and pursuit of success in order that it might be in line with His Word. Then we might live in such a spiritually successful way that God will one day say to each of us, face to face, "Well done, good and faithful servant." What greater success can one aspire to? May we seek success first and foremost in God's eyes so that He might receive glory and we might increase in joy. Amen.