Like most people, I’ve grown up with the notion that greatness is determined by the measure of success an individual has experienced. Indeed, when interviewing for jobs we tend to tout our past victories and positive experiences, quite intentionally leaving out those areas that might be weakness.
But what astounds me over and over again is this: The men God has used most profoundly are those who have been served a big dose of failure.
Here are three of the most well-known leaders in the Bible who were used by God after great failure:
1) Moses—murdered a man and fled for his life
2) David—committed adultery and then murder to cover it up
3) Peter—rebuked Jesus to his face and later denied him three times
Then there’s Paul, who was notorious for his persecution of the early church before his conversion. What is most interesting is Paul’s own take on why God chose him as a leader:
12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. … 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. (1 Tim. 1:12-13, 16)
Paul states that the very reason God chose him to service was because he is the “foremost of sinners” (v. 15). God chose Moses, David, Peter, and Paul for service because they had experienced enough failure to position them as agents of grace.
I once heard Sinclair Ferguson say that when his church hires staff, they always inquire where that person has been broken. This is because they will not hire someone for the ministry that has not experienced some measure of failure and brokenness.
I believe that as Christians, we need to reconsider the role of failure in our lives to shape us into tools worthy of God’s service.
