What terms would you describe Jesus by? Prophet? Priest? Preacher? Prince of Peace? Covenant Maker? Friend? God? Teacher? Son of God? Son of man? Saviour? Like us, Jesus got called names – glutton, drunkard, demoniac, mad. He would have taken exception to those but not to friend of publicans and sinners.
Jowett called Jesus a receiver of wrecks, and I like that. It’s not a term found in Scripture as such, but I believe it does summarise accurately the disposition of Jesus Christ. Look at the ragtag body of disciples that gathered around Him. Companies look for “the best”, but it seems that didn’t matter to Jesus. Have I not chosen you twelve and one of you is a demon? (John 6:70). The ‘demon’ was Judas, but what about the rest? Were they the epitome of upstanding and righteous Hebrew manhood? You have not chosen me – I chose you (John 15:16). There is the obvious exclusivity of the apostolic band in that statement, but when the Scripture says Many are called but few are chosen (Matt. 22:14), it tells us there is a broader calling than the apostolic calling. We are not called to be apostles, but are we chosen? (cf. Rom. 16:13; 2 Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 2:9; Eph. 1:4; Rev. 17:14). Note 1 Cor. 1:27,28 which speaks of God’s propensity to use weak, foolish, base, despised things to accomplish His will. It’s fine to think of “things” – manger, Nazareth, cross, preaching etc., but what about people? Is it true of people? Absolutely! People were made strong out of weakness and who can forget Paul’s statement in 1 Cor. 4:7 – we have this treasure in earthen vessels…..
The world doesn’t have much to do with failure. The world is hooked on success, not failure, even though every human is a failure (Rom. 3:23). Whilst you are a success your name will be in lights and on the front page, but once you’ve failed then people move on to some new star. But it was to this failed world that Jesus came – in fact it was because of man’s failure that He came. You see, God specializes in failures. In fact, God cannot work with a man who thinks himself a success – the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit (Ps. 51:17); God resists the proud (Jas. 4:6). Eternity will reveal that many of the successes of the world will be eternal failures and some of the world’s failures will be eternal successes (cf. 1 Cor. 1:26)
God has dealt with failure since the beginning. Adam and Eve, given so much, failed. And so it has ever been. There has only ever been one perfect servant – because of His perfection , imperfect servants are able to be used of God – my righteous servant shall justify many (Isa. 53:11). But that is not to suggest in any way that Christ is a failure, or that Christ wants people to continue to fail! He says, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. How could a perfect God say, Just sin a little bit? That would be impossible given His nature. Yet the Bible does not leave us with the notion that everything in our life must be perfect or else we mush smash everything and give up. Living in this world involves being able to live with failure in ourselves.
Note in 1 John 2:1ff John includes himself – WE have an Advocate. We must stand against imperfection and yet we must stand against all the romantic notions of perfection in this life (cf 1 John 1:8,10). The Bible does not teach denial of reality but the acceptance of reality. Often mental problems occur because of mix-ups in the differentiation between what is real and what is unreal. This is manifested in different ways – thinking we are something we are not – or pretending we are something we are not because we don’t like what we are or what we have become – not telling people what we are because we are afraid they will not accept us as we are. We can get away with that to some degree but I can’t get away with that before God. If God knew what I was really like He wouldn’t love me! Wrong on both counts – God does know who you are ( the very hairs on your head are numbered) and He still loves you. He may not love what you are doing to yourself but He loves you. If He only loved the perfect He would only love His Son, but then He would be indicted by His own preaching because part of the message He gave His Son included the love of sinners (Matt. 5:43-48). So reality is this: God loves failures, and reality is accepting our failure and accepting that God loves us, calls us, uses us.
The Bible does not promise perfection in this life except in the area of justification. It does not promise us perfection morally, physically, psychologically, or sociologically. We are fallen people in the midst of fallen people. It’s part of the trial of life – having to deal with imperfection in ourselves and others. It’s why we continue to need Christ. Inner strength is not perfection, but to continue on in weakness and to not give up on Christ’s ability with the weak is the inner strength that is faith (2 Cor. 12:7-9). We want to be able to look back and see our own footprints in the sand tracking out where they have carried us – to look back and see the footprints of the One who carried us seems to tell us that we haven’t been pulling our weight – if someone has had to carry me; if someone has had to cover my mistakes, then what sort of a no-account am I? Who is sufficient? What is sufficient? – my grace is sufficient for you. The grace of Christ is sufficient to cover all our sin; the grace of Christ is sufficient to provide all our needs; in the midst of our weakness the grace of God is sufficient to give us strength – my strength is made perfect in weakness. Life is not what we have to bear but what strength we have for the bearing. Its like a mouse worried about starving at the end of seven years of famine and having Joseph saying all the granaries of Egypt are sufficient for you. Its like a fish worried he will drink up all the water and the Pacific ocean saying drink on little fish, my depths are sufficient for you. Its like a man worried he will breathe all the air and the air saying fill your lungs all you like, my atmosphere is sufficient for you..
Failures are opportunities for growth, perhaps greatest growth. Jesus can turn stepping stumbling blocks into stepping stones. Peter looked back on those bitter tears (how long did their eyes lock for – Lk.22:61,62?) ashamed but there was growth there. Judas could have done the same. Would Jesus have received him? You know He would have.
The problem with failure is that we cannot see the blessing in it (Isa. 65:8). Some destroy anything that is not perfect – perfectionists we call them. To do quality work is a good thing, but to be so discouraged by imperfection that our only response is to destroy it is unbalanced. So we have the call to perfection and yet at the same time we are not to smash and destroy what we cannot bring to life again. There was a potter who strove to obtain the perfect finish on his creations but never could achieve what he wanted and so he threw himself into the kiln. It happens in many areas – how many husbands and wives have trashed a perfectly functional marriage because it wasn’t perfect? How many times are we hasty with words because we have forgotten Jas. 3:9.. and Matt.5:22? How many parents have said to a child You’re a hopeless idiot (or something similar like You’re a good-for-nothing).
Living in this world involves being able to live with failure in others. In doing this we have to distinguish between a man and his sin – between a man’s talent and his false philosophy. We may look at a work of art that has a non-Christian message and we may be tempted to cast it to the ground and dismiss it as nothing and convey the impression that the person who painted it is nothing. In fact it may be something of technical excellence and an accurate portrayal of what the artist is trying to say. It may very well be the case that the man is a genius and we need to feel sympathy for him because he is in the midst of despair and so is teaching others despair with his painting.. We may listen to a song that promotes something ungodly. Is it right to dismiss that person as a no-account? No, artistically, musically, he or she may be brilliant. A lot of disciplined training may have enabled that person to have reached a point where they are revered around the world and command huge sums of money in recognition of their skill and talent. We can and need to take issue with the lyrics of a song but the artist is probably ignorant of the truth and so that ignorance is reflected in the lyrics.
Remember Jesus who looked at a young man with a big flaw – a fatal flaw – and He loved him! There were things about that man that Jesus found admirable – but that same man loved money more than God. It is said that a man can go to Heaven without wealth, health, power, fame, or good looks – but he can’t go without Christ. Who’s a success? The one who has his failures covered. They’re covered in Christ and so it is imperative we are baptized into Christ, else we really will be a failure!
