By Shawn Blackmon
Everybody loves looking at the scoreboard. In sports, the scoreboard tells us who is winning and who is losing. In life, we have scoreboards, too. We count the money. We count the accomplishments. We count the followers. Churches count attendance. Businesses count revenue. Families compare where they are to where they thought they would be. And sometimes we look at the scoreboard and think, “This isn’t where I thought I would be by now.”
Maybe you thought your marriage would be stronger. Maybe you thought your career would be further along. Maybe you thought your children would have made different choices. Maybe you thought the prayer would have been answered by now.
So what happens when the scoreboard doesn’t look like you hoped? Paul gives us a different way to measure our lives. In 1 Corinthians 4, Paul is writing to a church fascinated with personalities. Some followed Paul. Others preferred Apollos. People were comparing leaders, ministries and results. Paul cuts through all of it and says we should be regarded as “servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.”
That changes everything. Paul doesn’t call himself a celebrity. He doesn’t call himself an owner. He calls himself a servant and a steward.
A steward manages something that belongs to somebody else. Your life is stewardship. Your family is something God entrusted to you. Your gifts are something God entrusted to you. Your influence, resources, opportunities and calling have been placed in your hands for a reason. Which means the better question isn’t simply, “What have I accomplished?” The better question is, “What am I doing with what God entrusted to me?”
Then Paul makes the standard unmistakably clear: “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” Required. Not suggested. Not recommended. Not when it is convenient. Just required. And notice what God does not require. He doesn’t say, “Be found famous.” He doesn’t say, “Be found popular.” He doesn’t say, “Be found impressive.” He says, “Be found faithful.”
That challenges me because we live in a world obsessed with results. We can become so consumed with what is measurable that we forget what actually matters. Yes, results matter. Responsible people evaluate, adjust and improve. But never confuse your scoreboard with your identity.
The scoreboard gives you information. It does not give you your identity. A good team watches the scoreboard, but it listens to the coach. And somebody reading this needs to stop allowing the scoreboard to tell you that God is finished with you.
Maybe the numbers are down. Maybe the plan didn’t work. Maybe somebody left. Maybe you took a hit you never expected. Maybe you did exactly what God told you to do and still haven’t seen the results you expected.
Don’t confuse disappointing results with failed faithfulness.
Paul says something powerful: people do not get the final evaluation of your life. Then he goes even further: You don’t even get the final evaluation of yourself.
“It is the Lord who judges me.”
People can call you successful while God says you weren’t faithful. And people can look at your life and call you unsuccessful while God says, “You did exactly what I told you to do.”
So maybe we have been asking the wrong question. Instead of asking, “God, when are You going to make me successful?” Perhaps we should ask, “God, am I being faithful?” Am I faithful with my marriage? Am I faithful with my children? Am I faithful with my gifts? Am I faithful with my resources? Am I faithful with the opportunities God has placed in front of me? And here is where it gets uncomfortable: Faithfulness yesterday does not excuse complacency tomorrow.
You cannot live forever on what you did five years ago. Yesterday’s obedience doesn’t fulfill today’s assignment.
As long as God keeps giving you breath, there is still something to steward. So don’t quit because you took a hit. Don’t retreat because the numbers changed. Don’t abandon the assignment because somebody walked away. Don’t punt on what God told you to do because the scoreboard doesn’t look the way you imagined.
And with that said, I’m reminded of an old song that puts faithfulness into perspective. Because when you’ve taken some hits, suffered some losses, and the scoreboard still doesn’t look the way you hoped, sometimes you have to stop looking at what went wrong and remember just how good God has been. The song says … “I’ve had some good days. I’ve had some hills to climb. I’ve had some weary days. And some sleepless nights. But when I look around. And I think things over. All of my good
days. Outweigh my bad days. I won’t complain.”
You’re still here. And if you’re still here, don’t complain because God is not finished.
So this week, stop asking whether everybody else thinks you’re winning.
Ask something harder: If God evaluated what He has entrusted to me, would He find me faithful? Because when everything is finished and the final scoreboard is revealed, there is only one evaluation that ultimately matters. God’s. And when He looks at my life, I want Him to find one thing: Faithful.
Let’s Pray:
Father, thank You for everything You have entrusted to me. Forgive me for the times I have measured my life by somebody else’s scoreboard. Help me remember that I am Your servant and a steward of what belongs to You. When results disappoint me, keep me faithful. When people criticize me, keep me faithful. When I am celebrated, keep me humble and faithful. Show me where I have become complacent and give me courage to recommit to the assignment. When my work is finished, may my life testify that I remained faithful to You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Walk in grace. Stand in truth. Live blessed.
