TheMinistryCafe

The subject of the first main session during the Innovation3 conference dealt with failure. The speakers during this session were Tim Keller, Stacy Spencer, Craig Groeschel, and Mark Driscoll. Tim Keller spoke insightfully on one of my favorite Old Testament stories which is the story of Jacob wrestling with God. I have always liked this story because I personally like to wrestle with God, and I feel that this story shows that God accepts and welcomes that type of engagement. It may not be as good as an obedient relationship, but it is certainly better than apathy toward God. Pastor Keller pointed out a number of things in that story that had not occurred to me before. We know that Jacob was wrestling with God, because God said that he must leave before the sun rose, and Jacob knew that no one could look on God and live. He showed that Jacob’s act of wrestling was his pursuit of blessing from God. Jacob had spent his life seeking blessing and acceptance from Isaac, Esau, and Laban and had been disappointed. He was desperate to hear his father say “I delight in you.” He pointed out that we should pursue God for His blessing and in order to receive it we must let Him hurt us, as God did by touching Jacob’s hip. Only through the experience of failure can we understand the position of our heart and know through weakness we are strong. Until we are hurt that can only be known philosophically.

There was also much said by the other speakers of the need to create a culture within the church that allows for failure, and the need to not internalize or personalize that failure. Mark Driscoll pointed out that risk is less risky when our personal righteousness is not at stake, and that Christ removed that issue on the cross. Also, the riskiest position for the church is to be risk averse, and I must say in my own experience this is big problem in the American church. There are some churches that mistakenly go over the line in the other direction and are risk addicted, thinking that this is a sign of their faith, but those churches are rare. I have found that the majority of churches in their pursuit of souls for God are far less risky than entrepreneurs in business who are simply pursuing worldly gain. This quite evident right now in the faltering economy where there are enormous opportunities for the church. There are many who are scared or hurting at the moment and looking for guidance, so there are great ministry opportunities. There are opportunities for church growth in the availability of commercial real estate, and lower construction costs. My fear is that many churches are acting out of the same fear that grips the country as a whole, and are concerned more about protecting and preserving their own institution rather than seeking God in this time.