Skip to main content

Stop Hiding Your Mistakes

                If you are job hunting in the future, do not be surprised if you are asked to submit two resumes: a traditional one that lists your accomplishments and a second one that lists your failures.  To a society that spends a lot of time bragging about itself, a resume of mistakes may seem like a silly idea, but we usually learn a lot more from failure than we do from success.  As well, the ability to deal with disappointment and to adapt to unfavourable circumstances is a valuable skill-set.  Therefore, employers are wanting to hear about a person’s full range of experience, rather than just the shiny, cleaned up versions of themselves that show up on the traditional resumes.
                That sort of thinking and honestly would go a long way to helping the church as well.   Unfortunately, a quick look at all the smiling faces on any given Sunday morning would make it hard to believe that anyone struggles with anything.  Too often, we only see a fake, cleaned up version of one another and this is causing the church to lose one of its most important messages: Repent!
                To repent simply means “to turn around” or “to go a different direction”.  It is such an important concept, that it is the very first word Jesus says when he starts teaching: “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is near!” (Matthew 4:17).  In fact, Jesus’ whole job was to call “sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).  The disciples, in turn, “preached that people should repent” (Mark 6:12).  Rather than hide our struggles, scripture says that Christians ought to, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for each other” (James 5:16). 
                These days, because everyone is pretending to be perfect, it seems that no one repents of anything, but that is wrong!  Repentance is not a one-time thing that you did forty years ago when you were baptized and never think about again.  Rather, it is an on-going attitude that constantly allows us to get back on course and to help one another.
                Churches will become more effective when we stop pretending to be something we are not and admit our need for God’s power and his grace.  When we understand that mistakes are part of the growth process, we will acknowledge them, learn the lessons that they teach and go a different direction.
                After all, Jesus came to turn us around. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: Press The Button!

  Consider This:  Press the Button! My favourite TV game show is Jeopardy.  I used to like it even more when my kids were younger, because I could easily beat them and look smart.  These days, after they have grown up and gone to university, it is much more difficult.  However, Jeopardy is still the only game show I will watch. In a book I read, a contestant who did very well on the show shared the secret to his success.  He said (and I am paraphrasing here), “You must press the button before you know the answer.  Everyone on Jeopardy is smart. Everyone knows the answer. The key to winning is to act.  You must jump in and press the button, assuming that your brain will catch up and supply the answer.  If you wait until you are sure, you will be too late!” Press the button! Too often, we hesitate, not because we do not know what to do, but because we do not want to do it.  Sometimes, we fail to act because we are not sure how the situatio...
Post a Comment
Read more