Perspective on Failure Part 2 - Why We Crash and Burn

    My last blog post was a brief perspective on failure from Dave Harvey's book, Rescuing Ambition. I've been reflecting on this recently because of a recent instance of failure in my life. A paper that I thought would surely be accepted for presentation in a conference was soundly rejected. Now, it's not a moral failure (thank God!) and it's really a minor setback. I've had bigger screw-ups! But I admit that it bruised my ego. Prior to this, I've had a 100% acceptance rate in all the technical papers and abstracts that I've submitted. I've presented in past conferences and even won a "Best Presentor" award at one point. This was my first rejection and it was humbling. My co-authors, who are colleagues at work, also received the notice of rejection so it was an awkward moment for all of us and especially for me because I was the lead author.

    So in times like this, we go to Scripture. How does God use our failure for His glory? Do failures really have a place in his plan? How does Jesus' sacrifice and victory on the cross rescue us from our failures?


   One of the most dramatic instances of failure is Peter's denial of Jesus Christ in the passion narrative. It's worth revisiting and diving into carefully because I believe that it answers these questions.

Then Jesus said to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.' But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."

Peter answered him, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away."

Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."

Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!" And all the disciples said the same.

-Matthew 26:31-35 (ESV)

That's classic Peter: loyal, passionate, and speaks before he thinks. Peter, arguably is the epitome of a man - strong, good with his hands, fighting spirit, and fearless! Confident in his own resolve, his reply reeks with pride, "Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away." Peter publicly boasts that he is unlike the others. He promised to stand with Jesus even if it means dying in the process. His bravado is driven by self-promotion and self-exaltation. Jesus said that they all would be scattered for a while but will see him after he was raised up. Peter, in effect, refuses to be considered among the scattered disciples. In the disciple rankings, wasn't he #1? He wanted in on the action that only Jesus could accomplish. Perhaps, he thought that he could get for himself a share of the Messiah's glory. Jesus sees Peter's heart and warns him that he would deny Jesus, not just once, but three times by sunrise. Nevertheless, Peter insists that it would never happen. Being full of himself, Peter was going to prove Jesus wrong.

    If we examine ourselves honestly, we are very much like Peter. We love to be considered as being the first and the best at whatever we do. We publicly give God the credit and glory for our achievements and successes but it's hollow praise. In reality, we too want the glory and we want to believe that our abilities and talents count for something. The Bible is very clear about the pitfalls of pride.

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

-Proverbs 16:18 (ESV)

    Pride slowly builds upon our successes and achievements. Like Peter, we think that we will never be ensared by it. Let's get real. We are not as strong as we think we are and we should never underestimate how vulnerable we are to temptation. Pride is hard to recognize and even more difficult to resist. Jesus warned Peter, "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41)." Proverbs gives a stark warning - when we live in pride, we're going to crash and burn! When we're on this trajectory of relying in our abilities and thinking how good we are, God brings failure in our lives to make us fall flat on our backs. And as we look up, we will see Him and we will realize that we cannot stand under our own strength. So the next time you fail (count on it happening!), God is teaching you that unless you know your weakness, you will never find where true strength lies.

    I'm going to continue to focus on Peter's denial of Jesus and his redemption through Jesus Christ in the next few posts. And I pray that as we understand failures and its place in our life, we will give our lives fully to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Thanks be to Jesus Christ, who bears Peter's sinful pride as well as ours to the cross. Through the cross, we see how far our self-glory falls short of the glory of God. We cannot be a successful disciple of Jesus on our own. We need to be fully dependent in God and not in our abilities.