Resolved

Today I figured I had to go mainstream and write something about it being the new year. Maybe something along the lines of a “clean slate”. Or new beginnings. Or how this year promises to be a good one. But the truth is, I can’t promise that. So what do I do instead? What any other hipster blogger/journalist wannabe would do. Check Facebook for inspiration.

As I ventured through the never ending stream of newsfeed, I start to notice a trend. No not like a hat that refuses to stay on your head or cover your ears kind of trend. More like a similar train of thought kind of trend. Statuses ranging from hope for the new year to be better than the last, to complaints about those people who complain about what they can’t or haven’t changed. And then I couldn’t help but think about what Steve talked about in church at Emergence on Sunday. Everyone is reminiscing on their trail of regrets.

Isn’t that what we do every year though? It’ s just around this time where we feel like we deserve a new beginning. Or this day where trillions of “resolutions” because of this year’s promise for a new beginning. But to make a resolution there had to be a failure in the past. If we were honest, resolutions would be called past- year’s failings. Those who resolve to stop smoking had to have started. Those who resolve to look for a new job obviously felt like they failed finding their old one. Those who resolve to loose some weight haven’t done the best job of seeing their feet in the past. In order to look toward the future with hope, we must look at the past and notice our failures.

But what do we really define as failure? Think about that for a second. Or better yet, what do we define as success? (Happy New Year by the way…its 12 o’clock). Our culture defines our success based upon what we do. If you don’t have a good job, you’ve failed. If you’re family life isn’t the Brady Bunch, you’ve failed. If your life isn’t the hollywood’s version of the typical perfect American, you’ve failed. The problem with that though is the typical American fails. We live in a culture where failure is a weakness and our weaknesses can never be shown. So we cover up our weaknesses with a smile and pretend like everything is alright. We revert to drugs. Run to alcohol. And are diagnosed with depression in the process. If that is you today, that you feel like you’ve missed the mark, that by worldly standards you’ve failed, know you’re in good company.

So I guess this is our fear, the fear of failure. The fear that we won’t meet the standard put in front of us. The fear that our weakness will be exposed to a world full of success. A fear that our smile will fade for just a second and your reputation of emotional strength will be lost. We can’t show our weaknesses because the world will know you have failed, that you’re not the strong person your smile portrays you to be. The real failure though, is failing to realize your failures. Covering up your mistakes and skipping over what you have learned from these failures. Or even failing to realize we come from a long line of failures. People who can’t boast about what they can bring to the table. Even at the beginning of the world, Adam and Eve failed resisting that one tree. The greatest Christian to ever live, first tortured and murdered millions of Christians. Paul, who was this great Christian, did the most to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. Paul should have the strongest resume, the biggest success but in 2 Corinthians 11: 21-31 he knows he has nothing to offer. By every worldly standard, he’s a failure. We come from a long line of failures.

We try to fix our past with the things we can do in the future but the past cannot be changed. We all have that stained shirt. The one where your kid hugs you with a mouth full of chocolate pudding, where you missed your mouth or someone laughed to hard while drinking cherry Cola. Its that type of stain that even through the magic that comes with Tide, it will never be the same. You try to cover it up with a belt or a jacket but you know its there and its burning in your mind. And you can’t ask your friend for a new shirt because well they’re a slob too. Everyone has they’re stain. But there is good news! There is someone who has a clean a shirt. And he’s already given it to you. Jesus Christ offered his life for us not because we did it right but because we can never get it right. The cross exists because we’ve failed. There is no breath but in God. No strength, but in his power. No hope, but in Christ.

Jesus didn’t come to make us look better. He didn’t come with a promise for a perfect life. But to take our failures and make them something great. “I will boast all the more in my weaknesses. For when I am weak I am made strong (2 Corinthians 2:10).” When we take what he has to offer we are new, but we can’t mix the new with the old. We need to face our weaknesses and be content with our failures. Know that success isn’t defined by how we compare to others but by the one who died to save us, by who we are when no one is looking, boasting in our weaknesses.

Take time to thank God for the times we have failed, for our weaknesses. Show grace to others who have failed; those who have failed us and have hurt us. If you are living with regret, something you’ve covered up with a happy face, let it go. “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).” He will take away your failures and give you righteousness in return. We can move on to 2013 once we’ve let go of 2012