First, mistakes. No one loves to own up to their
mistakes. It’s embarrassing. We scold
ourselves saying we ‘should have known better’, or ‘should have paid closer
attention to what we were doing’ or my favorite and most common, ‘why did I say
that?’! Then we do whatever we can to
make sure that no one else finds out about the mistake. We hide.
Just like Adam and Eve in the garden.
What are we so afraid of? That
someone will find out that we are not perfect?
Guess what, the secret is already out!
Or perhaps we fear that people will think we are incompetent.
Just like Adam and Eve in the garden, God
comes seeking for us in the midst of our mistakes. He comes offering us an opportunity to own up
to what we have done and not be bound by the fear to makes us hide. He desires to make something beautiful out of
our messes. But the decision lies with
us. Will we continue to hide with our
mistakes, bound by fear? Our will we
come out of hiding, own up to our mistakes and watch God do something amazing
with them? In his book “Difference Makers”, Scott Boren says, “God is
working through the messes we create along the way to reveal his love.”
When we come out of hiding and own up to
our shortfalls, amazing things can happen.
Often times trust is won with the people around us and our leadership
because of our honesty and determination to do it right. God also now has room to give you guidance
and direction to fix the issue or do it better next time. WE also start to learn that God’s love and
acceptance is not conditioned on us ‘getting it right’ all the time. We only learn and grow from our mistakes if
we are willing to acknowledge them and examine them with the help of Holy
Spirit. If we are too busy hiding from
them, acting like they never happened; learning and growth are nearly
impossible.
And then conflicts. It has been said the only impossible thing
about ministry is the people. We’ve all
heard that the number one reason that missionaries leave the field is due to
conflicts with people. And yet the
Scriptures tell us “by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you
love one another.” (John 13:35 NAS) Some
would prefer to work alone in order to avoid conflicts with others or to avoid
having to make compromises in order to work with a team. However, we have the greatest impact when we
work together! Jesus invites us into a
family, one body, unity; not a group of fully self-sustained individuals.
Why? Because we learn best from each
other. And that learning happens when we
disagree. Again in “Difference Makers” Scott Boren
says, “…when we encounter differences, we work through them, find God
together, and see what God is doing in the midst of them. The way we handle our conflicts may be the
way we show our neighbors what God’s love looks like.”
There are no perfect churches, no perfect
small groups, and no perfect teams.
There will always be someone you don’t agree with or don’t get along
with easily. And God is not waiting for
you to find that ‘perfect’ people to work with before He makes a difference in
the world! He is working through
imperfect people and conflicts to accomplish his goals in the earth. He always has.
So rather than avoiding our mistakes,
let’s own them. Rather than avoiding the
conflicts, embrace each other in the midst of the conflict and watch God do
something amazing. Let’s choose not to
hide from our mistakes or from each other in fear, but rather face them and see
what beautiful thing God will do with them.
Let’s forget about trying to wait to find the ‘perfect’ group or
situation before we go out and get busy building the Kingdom. But rather watch God take our broken attempts
to partner with him (and each other) and make it something grand!
