Another recent example is the testimony of basketball superstar David Robinson after his San Antonio Spurs won their first National Basketball Association championship. In an article in Sports Illustrated, he wrote, "Everybody thinks the trophy and the ring are the ultimate things, but as valuable as they are, they're just things. They'll wind up on a shelf somewhere, but the experience of winning them, the journey, will be right here in my heart forever."2 Unlike the Academy Award-winning actor, David Robinson had learned that fame and fortune don't give meaning in life. No one can escape the truth that position does not provide lasting security and satisfaction. By the time I started to understand this principle, I had worked in both menial jobs and in what I considered the ultimate in a challenging leadership position for a large ministry. I couldn't imagine going any higher, short of replacing Bill Gothard, which I had no desire to do. Yet even at "the top of my game," I finally realized that this position could not provide the continual joy and peace I desired.

Many within the Christian community fight the same temptation. They, too, are prone to accepting the myth that they can find fulfillment by achieving position. Some Christians would love to share the limelight with a television personality or be able to sing like their favorite Christian recording artist. Believers who hold secular jobs may long to be able to work for a ministry organization or a church. They presume that if they were working in a Christian environment they would surely not be bothered by the problems and pettiness they encounter in the secular workplace. Working in that type of environment, they think, would be like having a perpetual "quiet time."

Unfortunately, even in a ministry setting, certain things about a job can still leave us lacking lasting fulfillment. One reason jobs do not satisfy is that they all have at least one thing in common: Work!

How many men and women have sacrificed their family life for a higher position only to discover that the position they sought didn't fulfill their expectations? And in the process they lost their relationship with their children. Instead of the fulfillment they were looking for, what did they find? Hurt feelings, anxiety, fear, stress—the very things they were hoping to avoid.

Others are obsessed with work now because of some perceived comfort they look forward to experiencing in the distant future. There's a story I heard that expresses this well. An American businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with a single fisherman docked. Inside the boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

"Only a little while," the Mexican replied.

"Then why didn't you stay out longer and catch more fish?"

"This is enough to meet my family's needs."

"But what do you do with the rest of your time?"