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06/26/2003 Entry: "Who wants to be a failure?"

I just wrote this for my church newsletter -- thought I'd run it past you too:

On August 9th I'm planning a "cycle of sermons" around the 11 churches of our Circuit. I'm still a bit vague about the distance involved - but it is something like 50 - 60 miles. When the idea was first raised, I was full of enthusiasm for it. There was plenty of time to prepare and no reason to suppose I wouldn't be able to do it.

As the date gets closer, I have to admit to a measure of fear. How on earth did I get talked into it? Is preaching 11 times on one day possible? What if the bike lets me down? It's a long time since I cycled anything even approaching this distance -- what makes me think I can do it? The questions keep coming, and all the while August the 9th gets closer and closer.

Behind all these questions is the biggest fear of all, the fear of failure. Perhaps it would be better not to set out rather than risk ending up looking stupid. After all, there's no real need for me to do this. Nobody will be hurt if I don't make the attempt. Why bother?

But it is too easy to be crippled by this fear - and not just when you're cycling! Very often I feel that we only undertake those things that we're sure that we can succeed at. As a church and as individuals, our fear of failure leads us to turn away from new ideas and possibilities in favour of the safe and the proven. Not only that, but we are often hard on those who do fail, which just adds to the fear.

I'm reminded that we serve a God who has often led his people into (for them!) uncharted territory. Remember the people of Israel wandering in the desert, or Peter leaping over the side of the boat to meet Jesus walking towards him? Actually, that last story is very instructive, because it is when Peter realises how impossible what he is doing is, when he takes his eyes off Jesus and looks at the waves, that he begins to sink. He sinks, but doesn't drown. Jesus is there to pick him up and help him back to the boat.

We won't always succeed. And God doesn't ask us to. What we're called to is the path he sets before us, knowing that in success and in failure he is with us to set us back on our feet and get us on our way again.

I think I need to go and check my tyres...