Chapter7

Among the ten most-printed books in the history of planet earth, there are three Christian titles. You might not be surprised to find that the Bible is in the top ten; in fact it is number one (six billion copies), but the other two titles might surprise you. They are Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan (250 million copies) and Foxe's Book of Martyrs by John Foxe (150 million copies printed).

What struck me about each of these books is that they all contain a story of a ministry that would not naturally be considered or described as successful.

The Bible tells a story of a long-awaited Savior who came and preached for three years, was betrayed, beaten, and then murdered by his enemies. A church somehow springs from the death of this Savior only to be challenged with internal fighting, weird theological issues, and church members who get killed by God (Ananias and Sapphira). To make things worse, virtually all of the twelve men who helped start the first church were murdered, executed, or exiled. The church members that remained were scattered to the far corners of the earth and even there they were persecuted and many were killed.

This does not sound like a successful ministry or the kind of material that would make it as a New York Times best seller. But this story has become the number one best-selling book in the history of the world, with second place a distant five billion copies behind.

John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim's Progress, was an uneducated metalworker and pastor whose church and ministry suffered from starvation, persecution, and imprisonment. Bunyan himself was finally arrested and jailed for twelve years because he refused to stop preaching the gospel (see the number one best-selling book in the world for more information on the gospel). John's pastoral ministry not only collapsed, but his family experienced severe suffering as well. Eight days after being imprisoned, John's wife went into labor prematurely and delivered a son who died moments after. John's beloved blind twelve-year-old daughter also died while he was in prison.

Once more, John Bunyan's life and ministry appear to be a tragedy rather than successful or vibrant. John Bunyan could not claim a large number of church members, huge ministry budgets, or even an expanding list of speaking engagements, but his children's book written from a jail cell has become the seventh most-printed book in the history of the world. Who would have thought that the second most-popular Christian book would be a children's story written by an uneducated metalworker while in jail?

Foxe's Book of Martyrs tells the stories of Christians who suffered and died for the sake of the gospel, each refusing to deny Christ even in the face of death. Many of these Christians would not have been known or even remembered. Their ministries were small, their lives were short, and they each seemingly threw their life away with no apparent impact resulting from it. But five hundred years later, the story of their obedience to God and their faithful lives and ministries has become the tenth most-printed book in the history of the world.

Why would such stories be so popular? Why did God honor these lives in this way?

I believe that God has honored these stories and blessed these accounts because these people honored Him and brought glory to Him. Chapter 1 of this book describes how a healthy ministry is built on the foundation of bringing glory to God. A successful ministry is defined through obedience to God and through an overwhelming desire to bring glory to Him.

The Bible tells the story of Jesus being faithful even to the cross and by his death reconciling rebels to God. Bunyan understood that by denying God and ending his preaching ministry that he would not bring glory to God, and thus chose twelve years of imprisonment over dishonoring God. Foxe's Book of Martyrs tells of the hundreds who understood that their lives were not their own and that they had been bought by Christ, and so if it brought glory to God to suffer and die as martyrs, then they chose to lay down their lives willingly for their Savior.

These are not tragedies; these are stories of lives lived with no fear of death and ministries consumed with the desire to bring glory to God. These people understood that their ministries were not measured by the yardstick of this world, but rather measured by the yardstick of heaven. They asked the question, "How can my life and ministry bring glory to God?"

I still cringe at a conversation I had with a pastor at an airport. Within thirty seconds of meeting him he asked me, "How many members do you have at your church? We have seven thousand." His whole ministry focus was on growing large numbers, having large budgets, and attaining world recognition. In the world's eyes he had a successful ministry. I wonder how God viewed it. Was it a ministry that brought glory to God or did it just bring glory to this pastor?