By the time I launched Love Thy Neighborhood, I had already experienced major failure at 3 other careers. But without those failures, my faith would’ve died and I wouldn’t be experiencing my favorite career so far.
- Failure #1: My first real career was as a worship pastor for a new church in Philadelphia. I packed up everything I owned in Kentucky and spent almost 2 years relentlessly beating my head against a wall. The highest attendance we ever had at a Sunday service was 17 people and 10 of them were visiting from my home church.
- Failure #2: My second career was as a recording and touring musician. While I had the amazing experience of traveling the country and meeting people from all walks of life, I never experienced any level of commercial success. The death blow happened when my favorite music producer looked me in the eyes and told me, “You don’t know how to sing and you’re not very good.”
- Failure #3: My third career was as a self-employed business owner, managing the live concert tours of dozens of artists from around the world. I met some of my teenage musical heroes and made some friends, but I didn’t make enough to pay the bills. And sadly, neither did many of the artists. During my last month of operating the agency, one of my artists had an extra-marital affair, one pretended to publicly urinate on a gift that children had made for him and one got so drunk he began singing his website address into the microphone – all artists within what is known as the Christian Music Industry.
I WANTED to help plant a church, have a music career and own a business. I WANTED them to be successful. I DID NOT WANT them to fail. But they did.
[pullquote type=”left”]I am so glad I failed.[/pullquote]I am so glad I failed. The failed church lead me to travel the world and make new friends. The failed music career lead me to visit my hometown where I met my wife. The failed business lead me to launch Love thy Neighborhood – a career that brings me more joy than any before it. [pullquote type=”right”]In other words, all of these failures helped me see the important things I had been blind to.[/pullquote]In other words, all of these failures helped me see the important things I had been blind to. Failures help us wake up. Failures give us a chance to see life through a new lense.My wife spent all of her teenage years working toward a single career goal of being on a collegiate dance team. She missed making the team by a single position. If just one of the final selections hadn’t shown up, her life today would look very different. Instead, this crisis of identity drove her to realize she wanted more out of life. Within six months, she came to faith in Christ which lead us to meet and marry. I am pretty thankful for this failure, especially.
[pullquote type=”left”]Whether the failure is in our morals or life plans, God is not surprised by them.[/pullquote]Whether the failure is in our morals or life plans, God is not surprised by them. The Apostle Peter failed. A lot. He was always trying to rearrange Jesus’ plans or cut a guy’s ear off or denying he was even Jesus’ friend. Peter wanted a Messiah and Jesus was not living up to his expectations. The ancient Greek word for “Peter” is translated as “Hot. Mess.”How did Jesus respond to Peter’s failures? He didn’t kick Peter off the team. He didn’t drag him to the town square and light up a pire. He didn’t abandon him. While Peter was experiencing shame and embarrassment, Jesus climbed up on the cross to give Peter what he couldn’t give himself.
[pullquote type=”right”]When we trust God, we feel the freedom to fail.[/pullquote]Jesus helped Peter finally receive something he had been missing: trust. What kind of God would die in our place? A God who loves us and holds nothing back. When we trust God, we feel the freedom to fail.When we believe that God isn’t withholding anything important from us, we feel the security to get out and start living. When our standing with God isn’t determined by our righteousness anymore, the pressure is off. We’ve got safe arms holding us. Fear of failure is replaced by trust to act.
[pullquote type=”left”]He said, “I didn’t get what I wanted but I want what I got.”[/pullquote]Peter changes. He becomes a leader. He becomes bold. The hiding liar becomes the public proclaimer. And we know Peter isn’t perfect after this. (We see the Apostle Paul have to reprimand him on occasion for failing as a leader.) But there is no denying that Peter has become a free man who has seen the face of God.This weekend, a friend helped me realize something about failure and disappointment.
He said, “I didn’t get what I wanted but I want what I got.”
Peter didn’t get the Messiah he wanted. He got a better Messiah who gives him room to fail – a Messiah that turns ashes into beauty.
