Epic Fail or Godly Success
Some time back it became popular on Facebook and other social media sites to post pictures with the title “epic fail”.
There are even some sites dedicated to “epic fail” pictures. I find the church signs especially amusing.
The hard truth is that we all fail from time to time. From Adam and Eve in the garden up to this very moment, men and women are failing.
Sin is a fail, failure to measure up to God’s law, God’s will.
In fact, our failure was so utterly complete that God had to step in and do something on our behalf.
When we look at the life of Jesus and his fulfillment of all of the prophecies from the Old Testament, we are struck with one awesome truth…
Not one of God’s promises or prophecies have ever failed.
However, according to Romans 3:23, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, all of us who have reached the age of accountability have failed. As Christians, we know and acknowledge this.
Further, failure is an ongoing part of everyday life. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t fail in some way, whether in thought or deed.
How we deal with our failures will define who we are and how we serve God.
Failure takes many forms in the life of the believer.
There are personal failures. Some of us have failed at school. I had an A-B average in college, but my senior year I got an F in Numerical Analysis. No matter how hard I tried, it just didn’t seem to make a difference.
There are many who have attempted to start their own business, pouring their life’s blood into it, and yet they fail.
According to statistics, half of all marriages end in failure.
I’ve never performed one single marriage where the bride and groom told me up front that they expected the marriage to fail. No one sets out to fail at their marriage, yet it happens.
There are also ethical failures. When you are in school, there is always a temptation to take a short cut, better known as cheating.
It’s been my experience that if you will cheat on the little things, you will cheat on the big things as well; cheating on your taxes, cheating to get ahead at work.
Then there are moral failures. When we think about the life of a believer, we don’t expect to see moral failures, but that just isn’t the case.
As long as we are in this body and subject to the sinful desires of the flesh, we must be constantly on guard against moral failures.
Christians, just as non-believers, get involved in alcohol abuse, drug abuse, sexual sin, pornography addiction, and infidelity.
All of us are familiar with these types of failures and most, if not all, Christians know God’s opinion of these activities.
But what about when you fail while trying to do a work for God?
How many outreach programs, revivals, Bible studies, and VBS programs have you been a part of that you felt, in your heart, were a failure?
These types of failures tend to cause us to question our faith or the motives of the activity.
We are all familiar with the old saying, “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
I would say the same for failures, if we do not learn from them, we are doomed to repeat them, as an individual and as a Church.
The world is replete with examples of epic fails. We can look to God’s word to teach us how to deal with failures as well as understand the consequences of failure.
When we fail personally, or as a Church, it is important for us to determine the cause.
Look with me in your Bibles at Joshua 7:2-6. Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven, on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them, saying, “Go up and spy out the country.” So the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 And they returned to Joshua and said to him, “Do not let all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and attack Ai. Do not weary all the people there, for the people of Ai are few.” 4 So about three thousand men went up there from the people, but they fled before the men of Ai. 5 And the men of Ai struck down about thirty-six men, for they chased them from before the gate as far as Shebarim, and struck them down on the descent; therefore the hearts of the people melted and became like water.
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
Now skip down to 10-12 So the LORD said to Joshua: “Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 11 Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they have become doomed to destruction. Neither will I be with you anymore, unless you destroy the accursed from among you.
When Israel failed at Ai, Joshua’s first response was repentance before God. After his repentance, he diligently sought out the source of the failure.
Look at verses 20-22 And Achan answered Joshua and said, “Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I have done: 21 When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. And there they are, hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent, with the silver under it.”
22 So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent; and there it was, hidden in his tent, with the silver under it.
In this particular incident, they failed because there was sin in the camp.
What was true for Israel can also be true for a church as well as an individual. The key is to identify the source, remove it, and move forward.
What effect does failure have on the Church and the individual?
a. Many Churches are in decline and giving up.
b. Many individuals feel they cannot change and are giving up.
If we are obedient, failure will strengthen our resolve. Look at the life of Paul for an example, 2 Corinthians 11:25-26. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, inperils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness,in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
Even after all of this, Paul was never deterred from preaching the Gospel.
John was in exile when he wrote the Revelation.
How we deal with failure depends on how we value what we failed to achieve.
If we value our walk with Christ and the Church…
If we value a friendship, if we value our marriage…
If we value our calling, our ministry…
If we value our reputation and our character…
If we value our family and our children, then we will move heaven and earth to make certain that we do not fail.
How we deal with failure today will have an effect, good or bad, on our future success.
What can God do with failure? As I stated at the beginning of this message, God has never failed. He has and will always achieve whatever action He decides to take.
His word tells us that He is the key to success in any and every endeavor we undertake in His name.
Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.”
Our success as a Church always depends on two things:
1. The first requirement is Obedience – it goes without saying that God prospers any Church that is obedient to Him in every aspect.
Are we obedient in our worship; are we obedient in our ministry?
Are we obedient in our outreach; are we obedient in our compassion?
2. The second requirement for success is motivation – what motivates us as a Church?
If our motivation is self-promotion rather than glorifying God, then we will fail.
If God is in anything we attempt and we are obedient, Jesus said that we could storm the gates of Hell itself!
Our success as individuals also depends on two things:
1. First requirement for individual success is submission – Detrick Bonhoeffer said, “we must yield our freedom to God.” Life without submission to Christ is ultimately an epic fail.
If we are unwilling to submit ourselves to the will of God, how can we ever hope to achieve anything worthwhile?
In fact, without Christ, our lives are pointless and will not have made any significant impact of the world we live in.
2. The second requirement for our personal success is obedience:
Just as the Church must be obedient, so too, the individual must also be obedient.
a. On a personal level and in the crowd
b. In our ministry or calling. There is no such thing as a Christian without a calling or a ministry. Are you being obedient to God’s call on your life?
c. In our compassion for the lost, do you love your neighbor as yourself? In our love for our fellow believers, do we love as Jesus loves?
d. In our worship, are we obedient to worship God in a fashion that He deserves? In our devotion, are we giving God the time that He deserves? Do we meditate on His word and His will?
If we are submitted to His will, obedient to His call, and working for His glory, then even what we consider a failure, He will turn to success.
Why? Because God never fails! He didn’t fail to promise a Messiah, He did not fail to come to us in the flesh.
Jesus did not fail to live a perfect life. He did not fail to make a perfect sacrifice. He did not fail to rise from the grave.
He has not failed to save all who call upon His name. He does not fail to make intercession for us. He has not failed to send the Holy Spirit to comfort us.
God has done all of this so epic failures like you and I could be restored to a perfect relationship with Himself.
God knows we are failures, but He is unfailing in His love for you and I. No failure is too big to fix, Jesus blood paid for the sins of the whole world.
For the believer I would say this, be obedient, seek His glory through your life and enjoy the success that God has in store for you.
For the un-believer I would ask you this, won’t you come to Him today? God can take your life from failure to forgiven; all that is required is that you accept His offer of forgiveness and salvation.
Call upon the name of Jesus and be saved today.
