Each week, we post the thoughts, writing, and reflections of one of the writers in our community, along with the audio and screen art from our Sunday morning experience.
Our teaching team hopes that you will be able to use these materials to take further the experience of learning God's hope for you.
If you have any questions, e-mail Steve Whitby, Pastor of Creativity.
Worst. Day. At the Office. Ever.
Are you looking for the verses that we used in the Talk? Go to Warehouse Live.
In 1994, world class soccer player Andres Escobar of Columbia reached out his leg to cut off a U.S. goal attempt and, failing, deflected the ball into his own net. In the very first round, the heavily-favored Colombian team was eliminated from the World Cup.
Excruciating failure.
Failure captured on the world’s TV cameras. Failure with no way to back peddle, explain it away, or indict anybody else. Failure before friends, family, and a nation desperate for a hero. Failure when the stakes were sky high. Worst of all, failure by an extraordinary athlete while playing the very game he was passionate about.
What in the sheeesh is the purpose of failure? ugh. That question implies that living is about getting taught lessons. Better question: What could be the role of failure in growth?
(Deep pause during which I am tempted to google a witty quote by somebody famous and/or smarter than me to relieve the tension, but am resisting…)
My answer: Maybe not all failures are successful. Maybe there are successful failures and failed failures. My friend Joy recently introduced me to the phrase “failing forward”, a concept which is akin to the 10,000-hour rule (that it takes about 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to master a craft). A reporter once asked Thomas Edison how it felt to fail 2000 times before inventing the light bulb and he replied, “I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2000-step process!” This is failing forward.
On a soul level, it’s not quite as simple. A successfully failed science experiment is different than the sabotaging failures caused by deeply embedded sin. But I think we can still fail forward. And I think that might involve two habits: a habit of repentance (when the failure is rooted in sin) and a habit of marinating in the Bible. (Thank you, Kurt, for this! I strongly encourage everyone to download Kurt’s excellent Sunday talk and listen again.)
Here are things I’m considering and invite you to consider also:
Identify a painful failure that has rocked your boat—either a chronic, low-grade failure, or a harsh, devastating one.
What is your relationship with this failure? Does it haunt or shame you? Has it blessed you in any way? Have you shared it with anyone? Has it brought you nearer to God or driven you further away?
What Scriptures have you spoken into your situation and your soul? Kurt said that the Bible is the main vehicle by which we are transformed. Are you preaching the Bible to yourself the way Jesus did to himself in the desert? (Luke 4) Personally, I have been living with the verses in 2 Cor 4:10 for months in order to be able to remind myself during the thick of certain situations that I died with Christ and now his supernatural life thrives in me. I cannot tell you how much this has helped me during very dark moments when my sin could have easily triumphed.
How can you re-arrange your life this week so as to spend time with the Holy Spirit in the Bible?
Kurt invited us to commit to memory these 3 verses and recall them when we are experiencing failure:
1. Never will I leave you. Never will I forsake you. (Joshua 1:5)
2. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21)
3. Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 3:12)
Holy Father, Son and Spirit,
Your Word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. Even when we fail, you promise that your Word will give us enough light to see the next step forward. Teach us to invest time and energy meditating on your Word. Where the Bible feels dry and distant, we ask that you would cultivate in our souls a deep longing and love for Scripture. This feels totally impossible, and we admit that our laziness, boredom and packed schedules don’t help. We humbly ask you to forgive us. Teach us to know the voice of your Holy Spirit, who will be our guide into the Bible. We love you and we long to know you more! In Jesus name, Amen.
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We’d love to hear from you. Please share with us below your thoughts and insight. We would love to see Take it Further be a place where as a community we dialog, and together we all take the conversation further.
*Note: If you wish, you can look up this and other Bible passages online at youversion.com
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