In praise of failure

We live in a world obsessed with success. We are interested in the rich, the famous and the powerful, the movers and the shakers, and we watch their activities, accomplishments and lifestyle on our televisions and in the magazines and papers.

We are bombarded through the media and advertising with the command, sometimes blatant, sometimes subtle: “be successful”, usually followed up with some trite message about the deodorant you should use, the way you should look, the clothes you should wear, the car you should drive.

We think that we are well able to spot the deceit and so strain out the gnat: we know that success doesn’t depend on a fragrance, or even on our car. Yet we swallow the camel, the much more insidious and repeated lie: that we should be successful.

Everywhere there is pressure to succeed and the message is that our worth is based on our performance. Achieve, and you’re worth something; otherwise you are nothing. The world commands success, and the failures in our society are airbrushed out of sight...

No, this is a piece in praise of failure! (The very idea is shocking...)

Think through some of the well-known Gospel stories with me: there are many notable successes and ignominious failures in its pages.

Here are a some of the successful people who are mentioned in the Bible:

• In Matt 19 v16f there was the rich man who came to follow Jesus and asked what he needed to do to enter the Kingdom of God. He went away downcast when he was told to go and sell his possessions and give to the poor, then to come and follow Jesus. After this Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”.
• In Luke 12v16f we are told about a successful farmer, who had a bumper crop and decided to build new barns to horde all his produce, so that he could then retire and take life easy. But he died the next day, and Jesus used him as a warning, saying, “This is how it will be for anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards others”.
• The Pharisees were the religious and civic leaders of the day, the successful people, the top of the pile – but in Matt 23 Jesus repeatedly calls them ‘hypocrites’, ‘blind guides’, a ‘brood of vipers’, and compared them to ‘white-washed tombs’.

And here are some of the notable failures mentioned in the Gospels:

• In Luke 7v36f there was the prostitute who wept for her sinful life, and poured perfume on Jesus’ feet. She had her sins forgiven, while the Pharisee in whose house Jesus was feasting at the time was just indignant that Jesus would deal with such a person.
• In Luke 16 v19 there is the story of the rich man who lived in luxury, and the beggar Lazarus who lived at his gate. It was only the latter that went to heaven.
• In Luke 18 v9 there were two men praying – a Pharisee and a tax collector. It was only the tax collector, an outcast, whose prayers were heard by God.
• Then there was the repentant thief, crucified along with Jesus, who entered paradise …

There is a real bias in Jesus’ teaching – few successful people accepted Jesus, while many of the failures, the outcasts and nobodies were his friends and followers. And there are many more examples than these few I have mentioned.

Success is a very cruel god to worship! And here you are on very slippery ground; it is the domain of the Enemy.

What about us? Are we striving to be a success – don’t, for it’s fools gold. God isn’t interested in success, but he is interested in failures! Are we too proud to admit to being a failure? We only begin our Christian life when we recognise we are failures, and give up trying to succeed in our own strength, and plead for forgiveness. No, God isn’t interested in successful people, only in forgiven failures - in those who submit to Him, those who obey His commands and do His will.

Maybe you think that I’m saying that to admit to being a failure is the first step towards success? No! It is a key to being in a right relationship with God, but not to success in this life! God is more likely to ask you clear up the books after the service, or to be a friend to your neighbour, than to be successful, rich or famous. For God the Father knows that success is a temptation that few can withstand.

The world commands success, though the devilish twist is that most end up feeling a failure. Christ works with failures - who end up at peace with God.