Brennan Manning, in The Wisdom of Tenderness, on something that often triggers depression, but can instead turn us into more loving followers of Jesus.
Manning:
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“Isn’t failure worthwhile if it teaches us to be gentle with the failure of others, to be patient, to live in the wisdom of accepted tenderness, and to pass that tenderness on to others?
If we’re always successful, we may get so wrapped up in our own victories that we’re insensitive to the anguish of others; we may fail to understand (or even try to understand) the human heart; we may think of success as our due.”
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Boy that’s good.
Of course, every motivational speaker will say much the same thing about failure — but only in the context of failure leading to Verifiable I Paid for My Peloton With Cash Success.
You know, “fail in this business, learn something valuable for your next one, conquer the world!”
But for Christians, our lesson from failure shouldn’t be about business success or any of that, it’s about becoming more patient, forgiving, and loving people.
Even sin can serve a purpose.
Of all the sins we overlook, self-righteousness is at the top.
But the minute we sin deeply enough to shake us from the illusion we’re “holier than them,” we’re a little slower to throw our righteous weight around on social media, and we remember that even our “goodness” is only God’s.
Christians in the United States these days are very fond of raging against the machine (however they define it), but the real “Deep State” is the deep sin in our own hearts. That’s the scary thing. That’s the thing to fight. If I’m looking at what’s wrong with the world, it’s ME. Never “them.” Never “it.” Always me.
And that’s why it’s very practically important to talk about sin. It’s not just a theoretical thing.
We can only become gentler and kinder when we realize we’re the biggest sinner on the block, because everyone is the biggest sinner on the block.
Colossians 3:13 is $$$$ on this: “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.”
And so failure at anything, including our Christian walk, can serve good as it produces humility and turns us into gentler human beings.
