The Promise of Failure

Have you ever found yourself in a perfectly typical, comfortably mundane conversation when all of the sudden something your chatty counterpart says sends you into an unexpected intellectual tailspin? A few weeks ago I had one of these moments at dinner with a good friend. In between, “Pass the ketchup, please,” and, “Try this… It’s fantastic!” laid a life-examining inquiry: “If you could do anything at all with the promise of not failing, what would you do?”

This question was not directly posed to me. In fact, it wasn’t directly meant for anyone in particular, but rather was stated as a remark of reflection on my dinner companion’s personal passions, or the search thereof. Although the intention of subjecting me to several weeks of goal setting self-reflection was never intended, it was most certainly the result. Is this the intention of passion, to be secured a get-out-of-failure-free pass? Or, is the exact opposite the definition instead? Perhaps passions should not be sought in the places where failure is avoided, but promised.

What would I do, I fervently pondered, if I were legitimately promised I would not fail? Several long wished-for endeavors quickly came to mind, not the least of which included obtaining a doctorial degree, curing world hunger, mastering languages both ancient and modern, and might I dare to admit, even learning how to fly (in the “if only I had wings” way, not in the “hello, today I’ll be your captain” way). But, as time wore on, and my mental list began to exceed my mind’s ability to keep tabs on it, I reversed the question at hand: what would I do if I were promised I would still fail? What would be worth the benefit of experiencing the joy of the process in lieu of the pride of the successful outcome? Not surprisingly, this list was remarkably shorter.

The promise of success… what a glorious image that conjures up! In my mind I see an ancient Grecian Olympian, grape-leaf headdress, flowing white toga, golden torch with a flaming top, hands raised in sweet victory before a roaring crowd, enthused by the sheer strength and pledge of a promising young athlete. I’m not sure where this image came from exactly, or if it has ever even been a historically accurate portrayal of success for that matter, but it vividly paints the American dream: apt reward for hard work accompanied by public accolade. The promise of success… how beautiful it would be to experience an arm-raising ending to each undertaking in life. Who wouldn’t sign up for that?

But what about a promise of failure? Who would agree to the hours of painful endurance, emotional wear-and-tear, and promised disappointment right up front? But, after pondering four or five negative sub-points to my original contemplation, it hit me… don’t we do this all the time? How often do we find ourselves planning and scheming events of our lives according to our own standards and knowledge? God promises us failure as long as we don’t put Christ as the center of our lives. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 lays it out very clearly for us, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have – Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials… but on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done…” We have an option to build whatever we want to in life, but He is clear to warn us that in everything we do, whether well intentioned or meant for evil, we will ultimately fail every time we attempt to go it alone.

This promise so easily deceives me, however, because there are times when the scoreboard seems to favor the non-Jesus seeker’s favor… perhaps a specific success will ensue, in fact, they will from time to time, to be sure. God isn’t warning us, however, that we will never experience success by the world’s established standard of measurement while here on this earth if we do not choose to honor His Son. Instead, He speaks of something much larger… our eternal success rate. When everything is said and done, are we promised success or failure?

Well, according to 1 Corinthians 1:8-9, we are most certainly promised success! Listen to Paul’s powerful words here, “He [God] will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. God will do this, for He is faithful to do what He says, and He has invited you into a partnership with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (NLT). King David echoes these words when he writes, “Give your burdens to the LORD, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall” (Psalm 54:22, NLT, emphasis mine). Wow. It’s not my ability to succeed after all… I have a promise from the One who will eventually make the final decision: He won’t let me fail.

Not only will He not let me fail, He has promised to not fail me! (See 1 Chronicles 28:20 and Isaiah 40:8.) There is a qualifier to these promises, however. We must enter into this partnership with His Son that the Apostle Paul writes about. Paul originally wrote the letter this promise is found in to a church located in Corinth, but he makes an incredible statement right from the beginning that ensures our inclusion in this promise! “He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as He did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2, NLT). There we have it. How do we receive a promise of eternal success? By calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, “For ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved’” (Romans 10:13, NLT).

I find it incredibly humbling to realize, however, that this promise doesn’t just offer us a guaranteed success where we once had a shot at achieving it on our own without it. God is clear that He doesn’t extend an offer of salvation to us in order to alleviate the need for striving to attain eternal success on our own. Rather, He is perfectly clear that we all fall into one of two promises: a promise of eternal success or a promise of eternal failure. Romans 6:23 sums this point up nicely, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (NLT). And, according to Romans 3:23, “everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (NLT). Without personally accepting and relying on the fulfilled promise of Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection, we are promised an eternal failure, an eternal death… sans flowing toga and flaming torch.

So what would you do if you were promised failure? I, for one, am choosing to call upon the One who can promise me success. Perhaps, and by perhaps I mean most certainly, this won’t translate into a lifetime of only positive outcomes, ear-to-ear grins, or even a very high success rate by the world’s standards, but that’s okay. An extraordinary lifespan is considered to last a hundred years, but that’s but a commercial break in light of eternity. So, the question remains… will you choose eternal success or eternal failure?

If you are interested in choosing eternal success and would like to know more about how to do so, check out www.crosswalk.com/who-is-jesus/ . The last tab on the page, The Need for Salvation – Taking the Next Step, will walk you through how to do just that.

Oh, and back to the original question that spurred this on in the first place… perhaps, just perhaps, the key to earthly passion is this: We now have the freedom to pursue those overwhelming challenges in life that promise failure because our eternal success has already been promised, and the Promiser is not taking His Word back. Just a thought.