A Devotional by Jeffery King
A Quick Note From Margot: My friend Ryan Mahoney, the pastoral intern at my church writes a thought provoking blog called He sent out a request to a handful of his blogging friends and asked that we would consider re-posting this article by one of his pastor friends. At the time he did not say who the article was written by today on in his blog post he revealed it was by Jeffery King. I found out about Jeff's blog about a month ago from Ryan and have been massively encouraged by his posts, particularly the ones about the struggle of not feeling "good enough". TheGoodEnoughPastor . Anyway I hope you will enjoy this post and will check out both Ryan and Jeffry's blogs. I will catch back up with you on Thursday.
Failure (The Only Way to Succeed in only 7 Unbelievably Excruciating Steps)
⋅
“Failure is an education, not a judgment.”
-Donald Miller
We are a people obsessed with measuring and quantifying. We believe it determines and measures success and, therefore, validation. If we can demonstrate that we’ve performed enough units of measure in the desired outcome, then we have succeeded. If we succeed, then we have value and worth. Measuring and quantifying allows us to compare ourselves with others. When we score high, we take a certain satisfaction that we’ve outdone others. Our value and worth elevates and this provides us with the much needed psychological cushion of being better than others.
But pity when we miss the mark. When our scores don’t measure up or others out-perform us, we’re left with the bitter taste of failure. Our worth and value plummet. Shame shrouds us like a thick London fog.
In that light, I find it interesting that Jesus comes through the back door when emphasizing value. In the Beatitudes, he promotes characteristics that we tend to see as weakness and failure.
“You are blessed when . . . you are poor . . . you mourn . . . you are meek . . . you are hungry and thirsty . . . “Maybe what we see as failure is actually success in disguise.
I find this playing out in life experience. The character traits that we associate with spiritual maturity typically come through dealing with some kind of failure.
It was no less painful for him. Suicidal thoughts plagued him for days.
Their church was devastated. Bewilderment, grief and anger swelled in the congregation as they futilely attempted to connect the news with their heretofore image of their trusted leader.
It was a shipwreck of catastrophic failure. But Jesus wasn’t finished with Sal and Terri. He began to walk them through the difficult, perilous road of recovery and restoration.
Sal and Terri faced their pain head-on. Sal stepped into a level of honesty he never knew existed. He owned up to the pain his betrayal caused those he loved the most. He stayed present with Terri as she expressed her hurt and anger for what he’d done. He didn’t become defensive.
Sal also stepped into the chaos of his childhood. Abandoned by his father and burdened by a needy mother, Sal had turned early to pornography to escape his pain. Sex became his avenue for validation.
Terri carefully waded through the difficult decisions of what she should do with her shattered trust and marriage. She courageously counted the costs. She allowed herself to fully taste her anger. She wrestled with the question of being able to trust Sal enough to stay in the marriage.
As she weighed her choices, she chose to commit herself to the process of forgiving Sal. She also chose to stay in the marriage and to make every effort she could to see it restored.
Together, Sal and Terri went to work on their marriage. They left no stone unturned. They examined the systemic nature of their relational style. They learned to more authentically express themselves to each other. They recognized past patterns of shoving certain issues under the carpet and committed to practicing more direct address with each other. It’s not been an easy road for Sal and Terri. At times they fell back to old habits. The hurt and anger occasionally threatened their resolve. They often felt discouraged. But they didn’t quit.
It’s now been six years since Sal’s disclosure. Sal and Terri are still together. Their family is thriving. They went through an international adoption, welcoming a daughter to the mix of their two biological sons. They report their love for each other is strong. They’ve learned what forgiveness, commitment, perseverance and faith are all about. Are Sal and Terri a failure? Certainly some would say so. They would point to Sal’s moral breech as a permanent disqualifier for a Christian testimony, and certainly church leadership. Some would shake their heads and wonder why Terri would stay with him.
But Sal and Terri demonstrate the essence of success as defined by Jesus. They were broken. They know their vulnerabilities. They’ve passed through their dark side. Yet precisely because of their journey of failure they’ve demonstrated the true qualities of following Jesus.
“When a marriage has been to hell and back, when a couple has gone through their failures and yet they’ve found a way to get through it and restore their relationship, to forgive and grow, now THAT”S a story.”
-Rob Bell
Ryan Mahoney writes:
This post was contributed by one of the bests men/disciples of Jesus/husbands/fathers/ and friends that I have ever known, My great friend Jeff King. Jeff is pastor and counselor. He is currently involved in counseling at both Drug Free Osage County and Community Covenant Church in Osage City, Kansas. To read more of Jeff’s writing check him out at: TheGoodEnoughPastor
-Donald Miller
We are a people obsessed with measuring and quantifying. We believe it determines and measures success and, therefore, validation. If we can demonstrate that we’ve performed enough units of measure in the desired outcome, then we have succeeded. If we succeed, then we have value and worth. Measuring and quantifying allows us to compare ourselves with others. When we score high, we take a certain satisfaction that we’ve outdone others. Our value and worth elevates and this provides us with the much needed psychological cushion of being better than others.
But pity when we miss the mark. When our scores don’t measure up or others out-perform us, we’re left with the bitter taste of failure. Our worth and value plummet. Shame shrouds us like a thick London fog.
In that light, I find it interesting that Jesus comes through the back door when emphasizing value. In the Beatitudes, he promotes characteristics that we tend to see as weakness and failure.
“You are blessed when . . . you are poor . . . you mourn . . . you are meek . . . you are hungry and thirsty . . . “Maybe what we see as failure is actually success in disguise.
I find this playing out in life experience. The character traits that we associate with spiritual maturity typically come through dealing with some kind of failure.
- Humility comes when we taste the reality of weakness.
- Grace comes through experiencing brokenness.
- Courage comes by facing our fear.
- Forgiveness comes by acknowledging our sin.
- Mercy comes after we’ve been hurt and betrayed.
- Hope comes from embracing loss.
It was no less painful for him. Suicidal thoughts plagued him for days.
Their church was devastated. Bewilderment, grief and anger swelled in the congregation as they futilely attempted to connect the news with their heretofore image of their trusted leader.
It was a shipwreck of catastrophic failure. But Jesus wasn’t finished with Sal and Terri. He began to walk them through the difficult, perilous road of recovery and restoration.
Sal and Terri faced their pain head-on. Sal stepped into a level of honesty he never knew existed. He owned up to the pain his betrayal caused those he loved the most. He stayed present with Terri as she expressed her hurt and anger for what he’d done. He didn’t become defensive.
Sal also stepped into the chaos of his childhood. Abandoned by his father and burdened by a needy mother, Sal had turned early to pornography to escape his pain. Sex became his avenue for validation.
Terri carefully waded through the difficult decisions of what she should do with her shattered trust and marriage. She courageously counted the costs. She allowed herself to fully taste her anger. She wrestled with the question of being able to trust Sal enough to stay in the marriage.
As she weighed her choices, she chose to commit herself to the process of forgiving Sal. She also chose to stay in the marriage and to make every effort she could to see it restored.
Together, Sal and Terri went to work on their marriage. They left no stone unturned. They examined the systemic nature of their relational style. They learned to more authentically express themselves to each other. They recognized past patterns of shoving certain issues under the carpet and committed to practicing more direct address with each other. It’s not been an easy road for Sal and Terri. At times they fell back to old habits. The hurt and anger occasionally threatened their resolve. They often felt discouraged. But they didn’t quit.
It’s now been six years since Sal’s disclosure. Sal and Terri are still together. Their family is thriving. They went through an international adoption, welcoming a daughter to the mix of their two biological sons. They report their love for each other is strong. They’ve learned what forgiveness, commitment, perseverance and faith are all about. Are Sal and Terri a failure? Certainly some would say so. They would point to Sal’s moral breech as a permanent disqualifier for a Christian testimony, and certainly church leadership. Some would shake their heads and wonder why Terri would stay with him.
But Sal and Terri demonstrate the essence of success as defined by Jesus. They were broken. They know their vulnerabilities. They’ve passed through their dark side. Yet precisely because of their journey of failure they’ve demonstrated the true qualities of following Jesus.
“When a marriage has been to hell and back, when a couple has gone through their failures and yet they’ve found a way to get through it and restore their relationship, to forgive and grow, now THAT”S a story.”
-Rob Bell
Ryan Mahoney writes:
This post was contributed by one of the bests men/disciples of Jesus/husbands/fathers/ and friends that I have ever known, My great friend Jeff King. Jeff is pastor and counselor. He is currently involved in counseling at both Drug Free Osage County and Community Covenant Church in Osage City, Kansas. To read more of Jeff’s writing check him out at: TheGoodEnoughPastor
No comments:
Post a Comment