Does your life have a vocation, an avocation, and a vacation? If it does not have all three of these, creatively oscillating together, being powered by the Holy Spirit, you will experience Life-Minus instead of Life-Plus. In a negative way, life will simply be what happens to you while you are making other plans. The alternative is Life-Plus, in which you have the confidence that even if life happens to you while you are making other plans, the Holy Spirit of God is enabling that life. What happens, retrospectively, will be seen to be much better than the plans you have.

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A number of weeks ago, I came across an article in a ministerial journal, written for youth ministers, titled "The Three Rule Marker of Success." Although it is really designed for youth ministers, I am convinced that these are also appropriate for all of the rest of us.

The first sign of life success is: when you are taken for granted.

Most of us are inclined to feel like we are a failure when we are taken for granted. Stop and think about that for a moment. The real crisis for others is when they can't count on us. The spouse is worried about potential unfaithfulness. The children are worried about a possible divorce. The parents are apprehensive about being neglected in their old age. Faithfulness to the Lord and to others will bring with it the tendency on the part of others to simply take us for granted.

I sit on the Support and Counseling subcommittee of the Los Ranchos Presbytery. I have done this for most of my 25 years in this Presbytery. The issues that come to us from our 60 churches are not the stories of churches that are doing well, happy pastoral relationships and well-functioning staffs. We tend to take those churches and situations for granted. The ones of which we take notice are those that are troubled.

Being taken for granted isn't the worst thing that can happen to you.

The second sign of life success is: when you have stayed put for a while.

Some people have lives that are constantly churning. They are never happy where they are. They are always looking for a new job, a new partner, new thrills. Long-term commitment to the Lord and to others is what the Christian life is all about. From time to time, God may deploy you in different places to do different jobs, but the profile is one of long-term stability.

I have heard statistics that the average youth minister stays at a church about 1.8 years and the average pastor about 2.5 to 3 years. You can't get much done in that period of time, can you? That's hardly enough time to get started. Staying power is the name of the game.

The third sign of life success is: when you are a force for truth, not an echo of the culture.

How easy it is to mimic the styles and attitudes of a culture. Instead, those of us who are followers of Jesus live with a kind of "counter-culture" quality to our lives. Our highest commitment is to the kingdom of God and our allegiance to Jesus Christ, which then enables us to make a quality contribution to the kingdom of this world. If we are chameleons, constantly adjusting to our environment, we will never make much of a contribution. We are to love everyone with whom we come into contact. At the same time, as followers of Jesus, we march to a different drum-beat.

The article I read described some youth ministers as trying so hard to be popular with the young people that they never impact their lives. The youth leader must love the young people but challenge them to something better, spiritually, morally, intellectually. The same is true for the rest of us. We are called to humbly walk with Jesus and demonstrate by our lives His presence in us.

As we come to the communion table, I ask you the question, "Is life what happens to you while you are making other plans?" The answer is, "Yes." But the real question is, "Is it Life-Minus, or is it Life-Plus?"

My dear friend, Joanna Mockler, could have responded to the death of her husband with Life-Minus. She could have self-destructed, and all her plans for the future would have evaporated. She could have become a bitter, angry person, spiraling down into addictions and hopelessness. But no, instead, she claimed Life-Plus. Abundant life. Certainly, she grieved. Even still, she misses the "what could have been." But she has discovered the life God gives through His Holy Spirit. It is different than the one she planned for herself. It is one of creative service for the Lord through Gordon-Conwell Seminary, through World Vision, through her local church, through her friendships, her family relationships.

And I, in my better moments, when I move beyond the little pity parties I sometimes have for myself, thinking about the "what ifs" in life — I, too, can testify to the wonderful privilege of Life-Plus, God's will for me, even when I was making other plans.

I welcome you to the table if you have repented of sin and put your trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. I welcome you to eat of the body and drink of the blood of Jesus Christ in remembrance of what He has done for you and His promise of abundant life, Life-Plus!