{"id":2771,"date":"2012-04-11T01:05:15","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T07:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=2771"},"modified":"2014-05-27T20:12:45","modified_gmt":"2014-05-28T03:12:45","slug":"missions-catalyst-04-11-12-practical-mobilization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/missionscatalyst.net\/?p=2771","title":{"rendered":"Missions Catalyst 04.11.12 – Practical Mobilization"},"content":{"rendered":"

In This Issue: Being honest when you don’t succeed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Missions Catalyst<\/a> is a free, weekly electronic digest of mission news and resources designed to inspire and equip Christians worldwide for global ministry. Use it to fuel your prayers, find tips and opportunities, and stay in touch with how God is building his kingdom all over the world. Please forward it freely!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Succeed by Being Honest When You Don\u2019t Succeed: The Humbling, Scary, Liberating Power of Admitting Failure<\/h1>\n

By Shane Bennett<\/strong><\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hung up the phone this morning and swore under my breath (just a Christiany \u201cnear swear\u201d). The Athens trip was officially cancelled. Dang. I\u2019d had high hopes about a small group of people learning about and loving the growing community of Afghan refugees in Athens this summer. I\u2019d envisioned us hearing stories of hope and heartache, and spending hours trading thoughts on the lasting hope that Jesus promises. But it\u2019s not going to happen.<\/p>\n

Trouble is, I failed to find the people to go. That\u2019s about it in a nutshell. It pains me to say it. I suppose part of me says it so some of you will say, \u201cOh, come now, it wasn\u2019t your fault.\u201d But it was, at least enough for me to say, \u201cI failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Truth be told, I\u2019m not a total stranger to failure. In my notes for this article I have a dandy list of examples. Some would take too long to tell, some are too embarrassing, and some would simply bore you. I\u2019m not proud of them. And I don\u2019t talk about them often. I feel safer if I keep them to myself.<\/p>\n

Admitting Failure<\/strong><\/p>\n

But lately I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about failure, and not just my own. This was sparked by my recent preparation for some Perspectives classes. I was learning about community development and came across a video by a young Canadian engineer<\/a>. Watching it would be a very good investment of 13 minutes of your life. He tells how his failure in India helped lead his organization to a much more open stance regarding their failures. They began to publish an annual report on them. Then, realizing no one reads annual reports, they developed a website. Admitting Failure<\/a> is absolutely brilliant! It\u2019s a growing depository of stories of relief and development efforts gone wrong. Anyone heading into that field would be a fool to not thoroughly digest the entire site.<\/p>\n

Why We Hide<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to read about the failures of others, but why is it so hard for me (and maybe you) to admit my own? Last week in the car I asked Ann and the kids, \u201cWhy do you think it\u2019s hard to admit failure?\u201d Their answers were the same that you\u2019d likely give: We\u2019re proud. It hurts. People will define us by our failures. Admitting our failures will expose the falseness of the image we project. Ouch. It hurts. But it\u2019s not rocket science.<\/p>\n

Recognizing and confessing failure in our mobilization efforts is further hindered by the muddy complexity of what we do. Cause and effect in mobilization don\u2019t always tightly correlate. What looks like your failure may simply come from the reality that those you hope to mobilize have not been able to escape the gravity of their own safe and normal world. On the other hand, over the years you may have forgotten the taste of that fear and really did fail to address it.<\/p>\n

What about this diagnosis: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t the Lord\u2019s will for this project to succeed.\u201d Sometimes true. Sometimes the lamest excuse of the year. One good thing about being an atheist is that that arrow\u2019s not in your quiver!<\/p>\n

What It Costs Us<\/strong><\/p>\n

It feels safer to hide our foul-ups, but really it\u2019s much more dangerous. Think of what we give up by failing to share our failures.<\/p>\n

1. The Chance to Learn from Failure<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, we diminish the chances that we\u2019ll learn personally from the failure. And we\u2019ll almost certainly prevent others from learning from it. Now you might intuit the inherent risk that goes with taking two pastors to four cities, in four countries, highlighting three major religions and eight major people-group clusters, all in nine days, even if I didn\u2019t tell you how I made that mistake one time. But not everyone\u2019s as smart as you! For me to admit that failure just might spark smarter thinking in others.<\/p>\n

2. The Opportunity to Live without Pretense<\/strong><\/p>\n

Further, by hiding our failure we surrender an important opportunity to be real with each other. Some of my favorite people are those who say without pretense, \u201cI\u2019m a screw-up, from a race of screw-ups. But I know the one who\u2019s making all things new and he likes me.\u201d There is life in the twin discoveries that (1) we all fail, and (2) quality people – the really good ones – know this. They will stay with us even when we fail.<\/p>\n

3. The Favor of God<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, owning our failure, not hiding it or diminishing it, puts us on the right side of a very important equation: \u201cGod opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.\u201d Solomon<\/a>, Peter<\/a>, and James<\/a> all stress this dynamic. I don\u2019t want God opposing me, so I\u2019m opting for the scenic drive down Humble Avenue.<\/p>\n

Out of the Dust<\/strong><\/p>\n

Added to our humility, we have this great good news: God causes all things to work together for the good<\/a>. God masterfully works through our failures, redeeming them<\/a> and knitting them into his grand design for the redemption of all things<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen this work out in real life: I once spent three months with a research team in India. We failed our way through a convoluted series of bad choices, faulty decisions, messy relationships, hubris, sickness, despair, procrastination, and pride, finally pulling together a few dozen pages of information on Muslims in Mumbai. A Muslim who loves Jesus took the information, put it into action, and subsequently started a series of churches across northern India. God indeed makes beautiful things out of the dust.<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s not sacrilege to add to William Carey\u2019s great aphorism, I would make it say this: \u201cExpect great things of God. Attempt great things for God. Fail miserably. Admit your failure, learn from it, and try again.\u201d<\/p>\n

How about Admitting Missions Mistakes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re game to admit some failure in your efforts to mobilize, or really in any mission effort, how about this: let\u2019s put together a page of failures on Facebook. It will be a collection of mobilization missteps, Great Commission goof-ups, and evangi-blunders! You get the point. We\u2019ll call it Admitting Missions Mistakes<\/a>. Go here and tell your story. We\u2019ll all be healed and helped. God will be honored and he\u2019ll lift you up.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Shane Bennett<\/a> has served in missions mobilization since 1987, much of his energy going to recruiting, training, and sending short-term teams. He\u2019s been on research teams in Bangkok, Bombay, and Turkey. He coauthored Exploring the Land<\/a>, a guide to researching unreached peoples, and has written numerous articles.<\/p>\n

Shane now works as a public speaker for Frontiers<\/a> and helps his church, Commonway<\/a>, follow God to the nations. He and his wife, Ann, have five school-aged children. They live and work in Indiana.
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