Learning How To Be UnSuccessful
I recently was recommended a book by a good friend of mine (and an avid reader) titled How To Be Unsuccessful: An Unlikely Guide to Human Flourishing by Peter Portal. Pete helps lead a church in Manenberg. In case you are not familiar with Manenberg, of which I was not, it is a township of Cape Town, South Africa that was created by the apartheid government for low-income families in the Cape Flats in 1966 as a result of the forced removal of people of color as a result of the campaign by the National Party. Needless to say, Manenberg is a most interesting place for ministry. So with the Pete’s choice of title for this book coupled with his background in ministry (he is also on the board of 24-7 Prayer South Africa as well), I couldn’t help but take my friend’s recommendation and grab a copy of this writing.
Pete jumps in with both feet in his introduction to the book. He pulls no punches as he quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer almost immediately which for me, began the start of a healing discomfort that lasted throughout the book. Bonhoeffer wrote:
In a world where success is the measure and justification of all things the figure of Him who was sentenced and crucified remains a stranger and is at best the object of pity. The world will allow itself to be subdued only by success.
No one would argue that the world, that is, its’ slant towards empire, is only concerned with success. The Kansas City Chief just won the Super Bowl. First team to win back to back championships in 20 plus years. But before the celebration confetti had been swept up, talk had already begun as to whether the Chiefs can three-peat, a feat that has never been accomplished in the NFL. And if the Chiefs hoist the Lombardi trophy again next year, I guarantee you the conversation will be circulating about the possibility of making it four in a row. (BTW: On the opposite end of the spectrum, for the teams that have 2 losing seasons, coaching changes have to be made. Gotta have success!).
The question which Portal asks his readers is if “the cult of chasing the next, the more, the significant has snuck its way into the Church?” (p. 5) Portal thinks it has. I tend to agree with him. When it becomes all about getting more and doing more, I feel the church that charts its course in such a direction will encounter rough waters. What do you think? But Portal goes beyond the cooperate to the individual. Ask yourself: Is my life one in which enough is never enough? And it’s not just about the success of money and wealth that is the problem, “success today has become synonymous with living a life that others want,” which inevitably will be displayed on social media (#livingbig) (p.3).
I’m grateful for Portal’s honesty about his ministry and his feelings about it. He writes:
There’s nothing like being part of a relatively small group of people struggling to effect lasting change—in a community known for its violence, poverty and addiction, in a city characterized by spatial division, in the world’s most unequal country—to feel as though you’re not really succeeding at much, not really getting anywhere, haven’t got much to show for your efforts (p. 8).
Yet for Portal, this feeling of not having much to show for his work has been a good thing because it has caused him to work through feelings of inadequacy. It has also allowed him to see the Kingdom of God in a new light of which he has found comfort in living out the image of God to the place he feels called. It is a life of which he feels all who follow Christ should embrace wherever they may be. It is a life that “exhibits both the supernatural power and the participatory suffering of Jesus—the most (un)successful person who ever lived” (p. 11).
There is much more to Portal’s book. I just teased you a bit with some of his thinking in his Introduction. For some, might not be anything new to chew on here while for others, there could be some challenging or encouraging thoughts. I hope you consider reading this book. If you can’t, that’s ok. I’m gonna spend the next week or two sharing further insights and thoughts about it.