5 Ways to Persevere in Ministry through Constant Failure

In clergy circles, there is lots of talk encouraging those of us “out in the field” to experiment in ministry and to be comfortable with failure. This is a super awesome suggestion. It's always fun and exciting to try new things.

Until of course, you fail.

As someone who has successfully failed for about six years I can confess that it feels a little less “awesome” and gets a whole lot harder to separate the experience of failing with the identity of being a failure.

So, as a self-proclaimed expert in failing, here are five ways I have found to endure through the super un-awesome multiple times you will fail if you choose to take risks, try new things, and follow Jesus:

1. Cry. Well, really I mean sob. Wherever you are. There’s no shame in it. You failed. It totally sucks. People hated the idea, no one showed up to the event, or maybe in spite of your five page proposal and 15 meetings with all the right people it never even got off the ground. Whatever the case is you failed and you deserve to cry. And I’m talking loud, snot-dripping, hiccup-causing crying. Give it a really good go. Do it in public if you want to switch it up, like maybe in line at Starbucks. People will ask you “why are you crying?” and you can say “BECAUSE I FAILED” and they will say something nice like “oh, it’s okay” or “I’m so sorry” and they will totally mean it because they are strangers and sometimes it’s strangers that turn out to be just the perfect ones to remind us that everything is going to be okay.

2. Run. Run really far away. It’s best if your starting point is the church at which you work or the place where you serve in ministry. Maybe you are really coordinated and it isn't a high traffic area in which case I would suggest running backwards at a safe pace so you can watch the building getting smaller and smaller. You might lose your breath but I've found you’ll remember how to breathe again.

3. Laugh. Preferably until you pee your pants. I know what you’re thinking; “the last thing I want to do after I fail is pee my pants” but hey, it’s okay you've already been outted as a failure you might as well experience the joy of laughing until you lose control of your bodily fluids.

4. Pray. Like on your knees, David-desperate, praying. You just lost, and guess what people in the Bible do when they lose? They whine to the only one who isn't completely sick of listening to them (and that’s not your dog, trust me, he’s totally done with you) it’s God. God loves losers like us. God created losers like us to do just what we’re doing because guess what, if our definition of success was anywhere near accurate Jesus’ life on earth would've ended a whole heck of a lot different than it did. But guess what? It didn't. And neither should ours. Prayer reminds us no matter how humiliating the failure, no matter how hard the fall, there's never a place where we could fall where God isn't already waiting to pick up our sorry butts.

5. Start Over. Who cares what ‘they’ think. Whoever ‘they’ are. Give a new idea a shot, another

community a chance, the same grumpy people a new beginning. Being a disciple sorta implies getting off the bench and shooting at the goal with a blind fold on. So what if ‘they’ didn't ‘get you’. So what if it was three weeks before Christmas and no one came to the worship service you spent ten hours of your own time planning and you had to eat ten Domino’s pizzas by yourself. So what if you tried to help people in need in your community and end up meeting with your supervisor because you’re basically accused of stealing money. So what if they roll their eyes and walk away because “here she goes again.” So what…God loves you and that means it’s about process not production….stay kind, find joy, and love life.

Failure hurts but hope is healing. Don’t give up: Cry. Run. Laugh. Pray. Start Over. Amen.