Bowling Green Covenant Church

The Traveler’s Advisory

Friday 22 September 2006

“But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him saying, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” —Matthew 14.30-31 [ESV]

Before I saw the film Apollo 13 I had never heard the phrase “a successful failure.” NASA considered the mission of Apollo 13 “a successful failure” in that while the mission failed in its main objective: to land on the moon; the mission succeeded in that all three men were safely returned to earth despite spending several days in a damaged spacecraft.

In an article that appeared in the August 2002 issue of the Harvard Business Review IBM exec Thomas Watson, Sr. was quoted as saying, “the fastest way to succeed is to double your failure rate.” The article went on to say that failure-tolerant leaders know that while success is good, failure is not necessarily all that bad. Failure-tolerant leaders regard failure as a necessary prerequisite of invention, which requires risk taking. Failure also provides insights that cannot normally be gained from success. Failure encourages creativity and innovation.

Some of the greatest people in the Bible have been successful failures. Abraham listened to Sarah and slept with Hagar, when he should have trusted God’s promise that Sarah would give birth to a son. Moses was a murderer. David was an adulterer. Jeremiah faithfully proclaimed the word of the Lord for 40 years with little to show for his effort. All these experienced extraordinary failures, but because God is a failure-tolerant leader His grace helped them become “successful failures.”

In the NT Jesus emerges as the perfect failure-tolerant leader. And the NT has its share of people who experienced extraordinary failure. One of my favorite stories about a successful failure is Peter’s attempt to walk on water to Jesus from Matthew 14.22-33.

When Jesus called Peter out of the boat He gave the fishermen permission to put his passion into practice. He gave Peter permission not only to try the impossible, but also to do the impossible. Jesus gave Peter permission to succeed. He also gave him permission to fail. The good news is that Peter’s failure, as embarrassing as it was is, in retrospect, a successful failure. There is no doubt Peter was passionate in his desire to follow Jesus. However, Peter was about to learn a very important lesson. Passion for Jesus may get you out of the boat, but it is faith in Jesus that gets you all the way to where He is. A successful failure teaches us to put more faith in Christ than in our passion for following Him.

Peter’s failure taught him it was more important to put his faith in Christ than in his passion for Christ. Passion for Jesus may get you out of the boat, but it is faith in Jesus that gets you all the way to Him. Passion for following Jesus is good. However, our faith should always be in Jesus not in our passion for following Him. There is a difference.

When did Peter realize his passion for following Jesus was not enough? The answer is unknown. Perhaps it was when Peter reached the point of no return (PNR). Once Peter reached the PNR he couldn’t turn back. That would be embarrassing. You don’t want to fail in front of your peers. Additionally, Peter doesn’t want to disappoint Jesus. That would be even more embarrassing especially since the whole “walk on water” thing was his idea.

What if Peter succeeded? What if he made it to Jesus and then continued on with Jesus to the other side? Given Peter’s passion and his pride, it is likely success would have ruined him. But he failed and it was the failure that humbled him. It was failure that taught him the put more faith in Jesus than in his passion for following Jesus. Despite his failure, he did not die nor did Christ reject him. To the contrary, Jesus “saved” him. Even Jesus’ question has a more pastoral than judgmental tone.

The success in Peter’s failure comes after he and Jesus get into the boat. It is found in the confession made after the wind and the waves cease. The apostles worship Jesus making this confession, “Truly, You are the Son of God.” Peter’s failure opened his and their eyes to the reality of Jesus—He is the Son of God and our faith is in Him not in our passion for following Him.

May it always be so.

You think about that.

MM