Failure - Not the End of the Story

I believe the Scriptures teaches that we are not to cover up our weaknesses or gloss over our failures, but to show ourselves as flawed individuals who have been transformed by the grace and power of God.  Consider this passage from 2nd Corinthians 12, where the apostle Paul is in a spiritual conversation with the Lord Himself about his "thorn in the flesh":
9And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The apostle Paul definitely did not possess a fear of failure; in fact, he is a great example to us of how we can regard weakness in the context of God's overall strength.  If we accept that we are flawed human beings and rely on the abundant power of God, then we can be more effective in our display of His nature.  Failure is not the end of the story, it can be a springboard to a deeper and more committed walk with Christ, a life that is marked by His nature flowing through us.

I would like to think together about the abundance of grace that is available to us through Christ, and also to be encouraged to be extenders of the grace of God to others.   Here are the words of Romans 5:
15But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.16And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.17For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ...

Author and pastor J.R. Briggs has written a piece in the On Faith section of the Faith Street website that is quite provocative and can hopefully motivate us to encourage our pastors.   He says that he has repeatedly asked this question to dozens of pastors and Christian leaders.  It's:

What lies are you tempted to believe in ministry?”

Here are some of the common answers:

I have a small church, which makes me a bad and ineffective pastor.

My addiction has no effect on my congregation.

More speaking opportunities at ministry conferences means I’m a legitimate pastor.

The size of our buildings, budget, and attendance are the only viable way ministry success can be measured.

If I pastor better, God will love me more.

I can please everyone and be faithful to my calling.

If I preach better, my church will grow.

My physical health and wellbeing are not spiritual matters.

I don’t need help.

I don’t have time to rest.

God’s grace is big, but it’s not big enough to cover what I’ve done.

My personal identity is directly related to my ministry performance.

Briggs relates his own temptation to believe those answers. He poses this question: Why do we believe them?

He then writes, "Because in our time, the definition of ministry 'success' has been professionalized to the point that it mirrors mainstream American culture’s definition of success. We celebrate and perpetuate metrics of success borrowed from the pages of business management textbooks. And these metrics of success are chewing up and spitting out pastors at an alarming rate."

Here are some statistics:

1,500 pastors leave the ministry for good each month, citing burnout or contention in their churches.

80 percent of pastors (and 84 percent of pastors’ spouses) are discouraged in their roles.

Almost half of all pastors have seriously considered leaving ministry for good in the past three months.

For every 20 pastors who go into ministry, only one retires from the ministry.

50 percent of pastors say they are unable to meet the demands of their job and are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

Briggs identifies what he calls a "...widespread Super Pastor mentality" that "has led us to believe that pastors never struggle, never doubt, never get discouraged, and never wrestle with feelings of failure — just because they’re pastors."

He goes on to say:

The entrance exam to the Christian life is the admission of failure. We call this “confession of sin” or “repentance.” And yet many pastors believe they can’t admit when they have failed and sinned. Dozens have told me they are petrified to open up and share how they are really doing. They feel unsafe to share their doubts, struggles, sins, and discouragement with the people they’ve been called to shepherd and serve. Instead, pastors wear masks and go into hiding, desperately hoping they won’t be exposed.

It’s a vicious cycle, one entirely absent of the very element that makes the Christian story so beautiful: grace. We pastors hide our failures, fears, doubts, and weaknesses, and grace only becomes a theological and theoretical religious term for the pulpit on Sunday mornings.

No pastor is a Super Pastor. Pastors are broken failures in need of grace. Just like you.

I really think Briggs does a good job of calling attention to some of the struggles of pastors and can hopefully provide some practical insight for all of us.  Some takeaways for us:

First, we need to make sure that we are affirming those who serve in spiritual leadership over us. We have seen statistics highlighting the discouragement of those in ministry - as members of the congregation, we can help to provide encouragement.  We designate October as a month to recognize and affirm pastors, and now is not to early to begin planning something special.  But, I think that is a great starting point to building a culture of encouragement, where pastors and their families can be built up, and can even feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable with their own personal struggles, and receive grace from the congregation.  We have to be sure that we are ready to extend that grace to our anointed leaders, who are flawed individuals, just like us.

Another thing that comes to mind is that we have to make sure that we deal with our own failures and see them as opportunities for God to do His work through our lives.   Failures, mistakes, sins - they are not the end of the story and do not disqualify us from faithful service to our King.  No, we learn from our missteps, rely on God to give us strength to take a different course in the future, and allow Him to direct our steps.   Failure should not hold us back, nor should fear of failure - because we can know that when we miss the mark, there is grace that is abundant for us.