THE MEANS,
THE END, AND
THE BY-PRODUCT - IN PROPER ORDER
By Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001)
(Loyal pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana for over 42 years)
The most important thing in success is for one to discover the end to which he is working and be sure that every means points to the desired end. There are three definite parts to success: the means, the end, and the by-products. As long as a person keeps these in their proper order, he can be successful. Success is tripped up, however, when one gets so enraptured with the means that one of these becomes the end. He then loses sight of his goal and becomes unsuccessful.
It is equally as dangerous when one enjoys the by-products of success and of the reaching of his end and his goal that he becomes enraptured with one of these by-products and chooses it as his end. When one's great reward is reaching the goal and not the by-products of reaching the goal, and when one's means are always used as tools with which to reach a certain goal or end, he then has learned to be successful. When either the means or the by-products become the consuming part of a person's life, he has been diverted from the path to his goal, and inevitably he will find himself unsuccessful and his life unfulfilling. There are many means with which to reach an end and there are many by-products of having reached an end, but there is only one end, only one goal, and 'tis this which brings fulfillment and joy.
Let us examine the mistake of allowing means to become ends. A preacher prepares a sermon. His goal is to change the lives of people with that sermon. He becomes so engrossed, however, with the preparing of the outline that the outline becomes most important. Perhaps he becomes so engrossed in its delivery that the delivery becomes the important thing. He may decide this is a great sermon, and the greatness of the sermon may become the end instead of his means. He then will find himself not accomplishing his end, his goal--changing the lives of people.
In the life of a church this can also happen. A church can say that its main end is reaching souls for Christ; so the people meet to study the Bible so they can become better soul winners. They get wrapped up in Bible study, however, and forget the end. The means become the end and the souls perish. Perhaps they get so engrossed in praying for sinners and the prayer meetings are so wonderful that prayer, which was meant to be a means to an end, becomes an end in itself and again, the souls perish. This is the way churches get off the main track and begin "riding hobbie horses."
The same thing is true concerning a life. One sets out as his great main purpose in life to do the will of God. He finds the will of God for his life, and he chooses means to accomplish the desired end. That means may include formal education. Then comes the day when the person becomes so enraptured with formal education, he loses sight of his end and of his goal. Formal education becomes an end in itself, which it was never intended to be.
Remember in the earthly ministry of our Lord it was said that He set His face "like a flint" toward Jerusalem. Why? He came to die! Everything He did pointed to Calvary. He spoke of Himself as a corn of wheat falling in the ground. He mentioned the destruction of the temple (His own body) and that He would raise it up after three days. On the Mountain of Transfiguration while Peter wanted to have a camp meeting, Jesus talked of His coming death.
Life is successful only as far as a person has wisdom to use the right priorities. It is so easy to look at the means and get captured. One might want to be a soul winner and seek wisdom and in so doing, he becomes more infatuated with wisdom than with souls and spends his life philosophizing.
I imagine sometimes God would like His gifts to be returned. He has given us gifts with which to accomplish a desired end, and we have forgotten the end and played with the gifts. How sad and how fruitless our lives become when we lose sight of the goal. There are many means to a well rounded life, such as sports, art, money, pleasure, etc. These are all means to give us diversion, enjoyment, and recreation. When used properly each can so enrich our lives that the main goal can be reached easier and no doubt sooner. I know a young man who played high school football so he could be a better testimony. He fell in love with football, went to college on a scholarship, then played professional football for many years, hence postponing his life's work which was the ministry. The means had captured him, now the end must wait. I know many untalented little fellows who have no such means; they seemingly get more done for God because they have kept their eyes on the goal.
This is so true in the lives of churches. When music ceases to be a means and becomes an end, the church is in trouble. When the business of the church ceases to be a means and becomes an end, deadness is near. Any facet of the church program used as a means to the one great end of winning souls and building other soul winners can so easily be transferred to an enemy of the church when the foothills become the peaks, the highway becomes the destination, and a means becomes an end in itself. Many churches have gotten sidetracked on the tongues movement or some doctrine like prophecy or predestination, the fighting of a certain enemy, etc. The gifts of the Spirit are often misconstrued and misunderstood. Many cults have arisen from sincere people with holy intentions of reaching a goal and splendid means with which to reach that goal, but who lose sight of the end in the enjoyment of the means.
The second great enemy to success comes when one is captured by one of the by-products. Whereas the first enemy prevents any success, this enemy prevents continuing success, for this enemy can be created only after success.
God has many precious and wonderful rewards that He gives to us as by-products of success. As long as we accept these rewards with gratitude and thanksgiving and begin our next endeavor with the same goal that we have set for life, they can bring to us much enrichment. However, if one while enjoying the pleasures of the by-products enjoys them or one of them more than the attaining of the goal, he is tripped up and his life will not be complete.
Here is a preacher who fights the battle for God. His goal is to win the battle; his goal is to stay faithful. This he does; the end comes; the goal is accomplished. Though he makes some enemies, he also makes rabid friends and followers. In so doing, he enjoys their friendship so much that he bends over backwards in the future in an attempt to make friends. He forgets he made the friends not trying to make friends but fulfilling the duties, tasks, and responsibilities of life. 'Twas his marching toward the end that prompted God to give him a friend. Now he forgets the end and wants the friend, but the friend comes because we reach the end. The end will never came if we seek to reach the friend.
Here is a person who has given his entire life to the reaching of a certain goal. Ah, the fulfillment is wonderful. There is joy and happiness in the reaching of the goal. This person gets so wrapped up in the joy and the happiness until he seeks joy and happiness and in so doing he not only loses the goal, he loses joy and happiness. Joy, happiness, and peace are never found when they are sought. They are realized as by-products of duty performance.
The other day I was flying and had a layover in a certain city. It was Saturday so I bought a newspaper and checked the sermons of the preachers for the next day. One man was preaching on "Fifteen Ways to Find Happiness and Peace." As I read his sermon title I thought that that brother has an impossible task to perform on the Lord's Day. There are absolutely no ways to "find" happiness and peace. No one finds happiness; no one finds peace; no one finds joy. Happiness, joy, and peace find us, and they are not looking for rabbit chasers or duty shirkers. They are looking for people who are not looking for them, for they like to surprise us and surprise us they will if we keep trying to introduce them to others and quit trying to court and woo them ourselves. By-products are looking for goal winners, not seekers!
Since people who reach goals and desired ends often are complimented, this by-product sometimes captures us. There are other similar by-products that are not wrong to have but wrong to seek. This is why God has to sometimes remove the means and the by-products from us or prevent us from having them. We are not able to keep our eyes on the end and still retain the proper means and the proper by-products. God is gracious in not allowing some to have a formal education and in keeping others from having certain talents. How sad it is when we must forfeit good things such as sports, formal training, art, money, pleasure, etc. because we are not wise enough to appropriate them properly and give them their deserved priority. Each in his own place as a means or as a by-product is splendid. As an end it becomes wrong and even sinful.
There are many areas where these two enemies lurk to capture us. God may give one a good personality and it captures him and renders him ineffective. Another may exercise and care for his body as a means to serving Christ. He becomes captured by physical exercise and health care; it becomes bigger than the original goal. Another may realize he needs relaxation in order to better pursue his goal. He is captured by golf, fishing, or some other form of relaxation and it becomes the big thing in his life jumping over more important priorities.
Another may realize that there is a need for money in the reaching of the goal. Soon he is captured by money, loses sight of his goal, and becomes unsuccessful.
A church can be a great church and God gives it as a by-product great joy and sweetness of fellowship. They substitute that joy and sweetness of fellowship for spirituality and lose sight of what made them great.
A denomination can become a means rather than an end. One could even enjoy Bible study so much so as to forget that even that is a means. Bible study is simply spiritual food. How many people do you know who once ate to live and now live to eat! How many Christians do you know who once studied the Bible to gain strength with which to serve God and now live to study the Bible rather than to serve God?
Don't forget your purpose! Keep your eye on the goal! Never lose sight of where you are going. Use every legitimate means possible, but never forget what the means are and what the end is. Enjoy the by-products, thank God for them, but realize how they were gotten and that they are only secondary blessings as compared to the fulfillment and enrichment of reaching the goal and accomplishing the end.
The lessons of this chapter form one of the great secrets, if not the great secret, to a successful and happy life. Most miserable and unhappy people arrive at these conditions because of an improper alignment and an improper order of means, end, and by-products.
Now a word to the reader: Read this chapter again! It may well change your life. It will certainly help you. Learn it; not the words, but the truths. Find out for what specific purpose God has placed you on this earth. Point everything toward its fulfillment. Use every means possible, but use them as means. Accept every by-product with gratitude, but don't park on the by-product. Find your greatest joy in life in the fulfillment of reaching the goal which you believe God has set for you and the end to which you are pointing in the will of God.
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