Deep within the human soul is the desire for significance. You might say we are hardwired for it. Sadly, too often we settle for success that is both shallow and temporary. There is the old saying, “He climbed the ladder of success only to find it was leaning against the wrong wall.” This statement captures the difference between success and significance. Success has to do with achievement; significance deals with meaning.
Significance does not come from who we are, what we do, or even our place of origin. Significance comes from the cause with which we are aligned — the greater the cause, the greater the significance.
A few years ago, I was at a driving range in Kansas City. Taking a break from hitting my impressive 100-yard drives, I struck up a conversation with an elderly African American man next to me. Since it looked like he was retired, I asked what he did in his previous life. He said he had been a high school teacher and football coach in Kansas City. I then asked the obvious, “Did you play football before becoming a teacher?”
His whole face lit up as he proudly said, “Yes, and I played on the Kansas City Chief’s Super Bowl team with Len Dawson.” Now I was impressed since, at that point, that was the only Chief’s Super Bowl victory in history – 50 years ago. The year was 1970. The win was 23-7 over the Vikings.
As I asked him his name, he went over to his golf bag and pulled out a white handkerchief. Bringing it back to where I was standing, he carefully unwrapped it revealing this gigantic ring. I had never seen a Super Bowl ring before. It was huge! As I stared at it, he said, “Would you like to hold it?” “Sure,” I said. “Would you let me?” I picked it up and was even more impressed by its weight.
Driving home and reflecting on our brief conversation, I realized he had not told me what position he played or about any great tackle or touchdown. It was enough to be identified as a player on a winning team. When I got home, I looked up his name on the web and found out he played safety. I’m not sure he was even a starter, but he did play in the big game with Len Dawson and had the ring to prove it. I thought it was interesting that he found his greatest significance, not from 30 years of coaching young men at an unknown high school but from one game: the 1920 Super Bowl.
Reflecting on my own significance, I thought about the teams on which I have played. I thought back to my high school days and how proud I was when I got my letter jacket with my first letter on it – a big E for Eldora (a small farming town in Iowa). It was even more significant to me because the letter stood for football and not band. Wearing it around town, I felt somewhat significant; after all, the Tigers went 7 and 4 that year.
A year later, as I went off to college, I realized that most college guys had high school letter jackets, but they didn’t wear them on campus. No one would be impressed or even care. High school football teams were now insignificant.
Then I thought about how easily I identify, even today, with my first job out of college as an Aerospace Engineer with Boeing Aircraft in 1967. I was assigned to a team designing part of the Boeing 747. This commercial aircraft with its various versions has been flying for 50 years. Amazingly, new production will finally end in 2022. I was drafted in the military before I had a chance to make a contribution, yet I have a connection to aviation history. I could have been assigned to work on Boeing’s version of the Super Sonic Transport (SST) which was being designed at the same time. After 14 years of design work, Boeing’s SST never made it off the drawing board.
Significance does not come from who we are or even from what we do. It comes from a connection with a cause bigger than ourselves, a cause of lasting value. The Creator hardwired us for significance and invites us to play on the most critical team in human history. It is more like an army than a team since God is in a cosmic battle against Satan and his forces of evil. God’s strategy is to depopulate the kingdom of darkness and populate the kingdom of light, and he invites us to have a part.
It is not like God is desperate for help, that somehow his love has gotten him into a dilemma that his power can’t solve. If we all refused to participate, he said he could use rocks! Yet, he wants us and invites us to find our significance by joining with him to build his kingdom.
At any given moment, circumstances may suggest that God is losing the battle, but we shouldn’t lose heart since Scripture tells us the outcome. We may not know the final score, but we do know who wins. Satan has already been defeated; he just hasn’t given up yet. After D-Day in WWII, there was no question about the war’s outcome, only about how long it would take.
Walking along the Sea of Galilee, Jesus invited a few ordinary fishermen to leave their pursuit of survival and success as fishermen to join him in his new cause: fishing for people. He announced that he was establishing his kingdom and invited them to have a part. They weren’t clear on what that all meant, but they were willing to take the faith step to find out. Immediately they left everything and followed him.
At the moment Jesus was arrested, beaten, and hung on a Roman cross, the disciples felt like the Allied soldiers did during the Battle of the Bulge, taking casualties, giving ground; their team was losing. But then, just as Christ had promised, victory rose from defeat. What seemed like a loss became a victory in itself. The cross became the doorway into the kingdom, the Lamb became the Lion, and the Teacher became the King.
Today, we can find the significance we were designed for when we join the most crucial cause in human history: expanding Christ’s Kingdom. We don’t know how long we have, but we do know that one day the King of Peace will take his rightful place, not at the head of an army but as the head of his kingdom, his family.
The invitation is still on the table: “Follow Me, and I will show you how to fish for people.”
For Reflection
1. What teams have you been on that gave you a sense of significance?
2. What message of significance does our culture paint?