Failure

If you’re ever going to a new place, you’ve probably turned to Google or Chat GPT and said some version of, “Tell me about _______.” San Francisco or Cuba or the best bone fishing spots (just me?) or whatever. You’re not looking for a deep dive. A deep dive can always follow if there is interest. Quite the opposite. Give me the big ideas, the things not to miss, a quick snapshot. It’s a primer. I’m taking that primer idea to a series of practical theological topics over the summer. No dissertation here. Just a Biblical door opening on a few different themes that touch our life and work. Enjoy. View the other primers here. 

Let me begin with the summary thought.

People fail; God rescues.

If you want to understand failure Biblically, that’s probably the best place to start. Failure is inevitable. But it is also not the end of the story. And it can, in fact, even be profitable, though painful—in our personal life and our corporate life.

The key is to understand failure so we can deal with it in the most appropriate ways. To that end, let me group failure into four categories because not all types of failure are identical:

Task Failure

Tasks are the things we take on each week and each month. Our assignments and our battles against competition. And sometimes we lose. We fall short.

While failures here can hurt us, it’s also a place to test our limits. What a boring existence we would have were we to attempt nothing beyond our capabilities.

Why do we fail here?

• We are overloaded. We can’t say no.
• We procrastinate.
• We lack the needed skills.
• We are outworked or outplayed.
• We practice poor planning.

Sometimes this is sin. But not always. Sometimes it’s poor planning (the kind Jesus describes in Luke 14—the man who was building a tower and failed to figure out whether he had enough to finish the job). Sometimes it’s just outside of your control.

Relational Failures

God did not make us to walk the earth alone. We are wired to interact with other people. Sometimes we do it successfully. Sometimes we don’t.

Relational failure is the unraveling or souring of a relationship. It can happen within a family, with friends, co-workers, clients, or customers.

And usually, it starts small.

Relational failure is like a snowball rolling down a hill. Inertia takes over and soon you’ve got a full-blown avalanche.

The Bible has lots to say about this how to stop the inertia.

• Keep a short account of grievances. Don’t let complaints build up. (Ephesians 4:26)
• Stay above the line. Don’t become fixed on someone’s inadequacies. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
• Don’t use people as a consumable or a disposable. (Romans 12:9-16)
• Learn how to handle conflicts and misunderstandings. Learn how to say “I’m sorry.” (Proverbs 15:1)

Successfully navigating relationships from life pays incredible dividends, especially on the backside of life. Steering clear of relational failures and mending the friendships as they are tested makes all the difference.

Career Failure

Career failure most commonly comes at the middle or end of one’s life, but not always. It comes anytime we look back on our work life and label it with regret, remorse, or dissatisfaction.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a stay-at-home parent, a non-profit founder, a blue-collar worker, or a white-collar executive. It can happy to any of us. For any number of reasons.

We fail because we lack clarity in knowing what to do or what we’re good at.

We fail because we’re unwilling to try a new path.

We fail because the company downsizes.

We fail because the market shifts (AI, anyone?)

Career failure can be particularly painful for Americans because of how our culture links significance and career success.

Failure does that to you—it strikes at your significance.

Moral Failure

Moral failure is in a class by itself. Like an F5 tornado that comes screaming through, leaving devastation in its wake. Recovery is possible but painstaking and slow.

Moral failure is different from the others because it is sin. It carries the weight of personal responsibility in unique ways.

The choice might be to steal money or trade secrets. It might be to falsify a report or boldface lie to a boss to save your hide. It might be to engage in an emotional or physical affair. Regardless, it’s a failure. A violation of a rule or law.

And, put simply, you’re on the wrong side of it. There are countless examples in the Bible of individuals making moral failure—David, Abraham, Noah, the list goes on and on. And it’s not the list you want to find yourself on.

Five Acts of Failure

So, what do we do with all this? Well, let me go back to the summary thought.

People fail, God rescues.

But let me flesh that out with five truths. Taken together, there’s an arc that takes failure from being our story to failure becoming part of our story—a story that God is writing.

Act One: Failure is Not an Option. It’s worse. It’s inevitable.

Whether because of our own sin (Romans 3:23) or because we live in a broken world where things don’t go according to plan (Romans 8:22), failure is going to happen.

Act Two: The Word of God is our guide.

Scripture is the key to avoiding failure. And as any really relevant book does, the Bible approaches the subject from a number of different angles.

The narrative accounts of the Old Testament paint powerful pictures.

Wisdom literature like Proverbs and James are full of pithy sayings that make you think.

The letters of the New Testament have class lecture notes that get right to the point.

Isaiah 30:21 says, “Your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘This is the way. Walk in it.’” The Bible is that voice, pointing out the way.

Act Three: The Holy Spirit is our advisor. And our shaper.

Just like a high-end executive coach, the Holy Spirit lives with us through the daily reality of tough actions and decisions. But better than an executive coach, the Spirit is also shaping us, not just making suggestions.

Over time, the Spirit does work love in you. And peace. And joy. And kindness. And self-control. And wisdom.

In other words, as you follow Jesus, you actually avoid failure you would otherwise fall into.

Act Four: Jesus is our hope.

Jesus came that our lives might be more abundant and so that the story wouldn’t be contingent on my avoiding failure.

Consider again the reality that Jesus came because of failure. Without failure, he doesn’t come to earth.

When we have a tool that fails, we usually toss it aside. No need for that anymore.

But Jesus doesn’t operate that way. And if Jesus didn’t cast aside the world in its failure, then why would he cast you aside in your (much smaller) failures? He doesn’t cast out. He enters in.

Act Five: Wisdom is our takeaway.

While the end of the story eternally centers on Jesus, in this life, there’s also this amazing reality: Jesus doesn’t just remove us from our failures, he actually uses them. He turns failure into a teacher.

Yes, failure is a demanding teacher. But when class is in session, we have some of our best opportunities for spiritual and intellectual growth.

Wisdom comes from adding experience to truth, and failure is one of the most intense kinds of experiences. If we do not walk away with wisdom, then the failure really is failure. To be wise, though, means to have failed and learned deeply from the experience.

I’ll say it one more time. People fail; God rescues.

Self-reflective questions:

1. What other Biblical examples or passages help us think about failure?
2. Which type of failure feels most relevant to you right now?
3. What is a moment when God has used failure in your life?