There is nothing inherently wrong with climbing.
The deeper question is:
What is the ladder leaning against?
A person can become extraordinarily successful
while becoming increasingly incapable
of seeing another person's suffering.
A company can become more efficient
while its workers become more exhausted.
A city can become wealthier while people
who serve it can no longer afford to remain within it.
A church can become larger
while becoming increasingly distant
from the wounded beyond its doors.
A civilization can become technologically sophisticated
while remaining morally immature.
The ladder measures height.
It cannot determine direction.
For that we need conscience.
Conscience asks questions the résumé cannot answer:
What has success made of me?
Who became safer because I became stronger?
Who was welcomed because I acquired influence?
Who received something because I accumulated more?
Who became visible because I learned to see?
And finally:
Has climbing made me more capable of becoming a neighbor?
These are not anti-success questions.
They are questions about the purpose of success.
Pastor Steven G. Lee
Street GMC Corps
September 16, 2026
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THE BIBLICAL PICTURE
*Proverbs asks:
Is your ladder against the right wall?
*Haggai says:
Consider your ways.
*Deuteronomy warns:
Do not let success lift your heart into pride.
*Luke shows Lazarus:
Look beneath the ladder.
*The Good Samaritan says:
Change direction.
*Philippians points to Christ:
Come down.
*Matthew says:
Become a servant.
*1John asks:
Now that you have seen the neighbor,
what will your abundance do?
*Micah answers:
Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly.
*Mark 8:36 stands over the entire climb:
“For what shall it profit a man,
if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?”
What is the ladder leaning against?
As we climb, are we becoming more capable
of seeing the neighbor—or less?
The ladder may teach achievement.
But mercy teaches direction.
Look down, come near, cross the road,
and become a neighbor.
Emmanuel. Amen.
https://www.facebook.com/steven.g.lee1/posts/pfbid02Vx5ZCv9fTqCSkfZdfBhv8xWcMzeQ34g4CwbvdXfvbifPbyMXqwwHWWN2T1BoRvNVl
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