It is important that Christians understand how to interpret their failures in life - or else the response to failing can wreck the purpose of life.
One way failure wrecks a life is when - instead of acknowledging the failure, and repenting it - the person tells himself that it was Not a failure; and ends-up arguing and propagandising that it is not a failure - hence, the failure is asserted to be a virtue, instead of a sin.
This is moral inversion - the reversal of Good and evil, and probably the worst of all forms of evil; and it probably afflicts more people here and now (in numbers and as a proportion) than ever before in human history.
Another way that failure wrecks a life is when it is assumed that each failure to live by the ideal standards (e.g. never to sin) or to live in the ideal way (e.g. always to be at the highest level of consciousness) invalidates the ideal.
The way it goes is that: "Since I am incapable of perfection, I am a fraud; since my life is not wholly transformed by my faith - my faith is a sham. Because Christianity cannot abolish sin in me (or him, or her) it is useless. No matter how hard I try, I always keep failing; therefore it is futile to try."
These problems arise from a wrong understanding of the nature and function of this mortal life. What has been very helpful for me to recognise is that this mortal life comes between a pre-mortal eternity in which we were spirits (without bodies) and a post-mortal eternity in which we will be (those of us to choose it) resurrected immortal incarnates (with bodies).
This life is a finite period sandwiched between two 'infinities' - it is therefore not intended to be a permanent, fixed, or perfect mode.
If that is the structure of our life - past, present and future - what then is the function of this finite mortal segment that we are living now?
It is a time of experiencing and learning. And in order to experience, we will need a range of experiences - depending on our individual needs. In order to learn we will need some repeated experiences, we will also need new experiences.
Since learning is primarily directed at the eternity of post-mortal life; the outcomes in this finite mortal life are not, therefore, of a permanent, steady kind during this life. Therefore, current mortal life is not supposed to be an ideal state - or rather, the ideal mortal life is one that offers us the experiences we most need to learn-from. And these will seldom be unvarying ideality...
Indeed, mortal life has impermanence built-into it - there are many kinds of change; there is development, degeneration, disease, and death. For each person, his own 'baseline' is constantly changing - due to such processes.
The situation of mortal life is set-up to provide learning experiences; therefore it is Not set-up to provide the possibility of a life without failure.
Indeed, a mortal life without failure would (nearly always) be a failure as a mortal life!
Therefore Christians really should not be cast-down by failures as such; by imperfection as such; by the inevitability of sin, of change (including decline), of our absolute incapacity to live life to the fullest and at the highest level...
When we understand the nature and function of this, our mortal life; these become features, not bugs.
Note added from the comments: It is because we need to learn from failing that we are alive. If we
could live without failing - there would be no need to live.
Thank you for this. For me, it was very timely. And it reminded with force of some of my own tendencies which have in the past tossed me upon rocks of my own making. It's helpful to be reminded of transcendent realities.
ReplyDelete“Another way that failure wrecks a life is when it is assumed that each failure to live by the ideal standards (e.g. never to sin) or to live in the ideal way (e.g. always to be at the highest level of consciousness) invalidates the ideal.
ReplyDeleteThe way it goes is that: "Since I am incapable of perfection, I am a fraud; since my life is not wholly transformed by my faith - my faith is a sham. Because Christianity cannot abolish sin in me (or him, or her) it is useless. No matter how hard I try, I always keep failing; therefore it is futile to try."
This is common in the evangelical understanding of Christianity because of Calvinist (and probably Lutheran) influence. Catholicism and Orthodoxy teach the living of a Christian life and the practice of virtue and practice of the faith. Evangelical churches seem to assume (implicitly) that a person who has a genuine conversion will be possessed by the Holy Spirt, have no concupiscence, magically turn from sin. They see the necessity of practicing virtue, gaining command of the will, cultivating faith, etc. as “works salvation.”
@BB - Well - in this respect I would say that Roman Catholics are prone not to bother striving for ideal behaviour, and then to start saying that sin is not sin - and then a virtue (because their practice is based around the Mass; while serious Protestants tend to become desperate and perhaps despairing (and maybe give up) because they cannot be perfect in mortal life (because their practice is based on living by Biblical injunctions).
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the great strength of serious Evangelicals (among protestants) is the appreciation that the slate is always and evry-time wiped completely-clean by faith (including repentance). Where they are strict about behaviour is among those with pastoral responsibility. e.g. The sin of divorce may be forgiven, but that person may well be permanently excluded from pastoral responsibility. 'Church order' is very important, in other words (this being the given reason why women are excluded from pastor positions - i.e. because women pastors tend to destroy church order).
The combination of a striving for perfection and the inevitable failures of living can be that strange doctrine of salvation depending upon the state of one's soul at the instant of death ... 'the tree lies where it falls' - which makes all of life a worry about that moment.
What you outline in this post is of immense importance. If failure is necessary and inevitable, then Christians should aim to be "successful failures."
ReplyDelete@Francis - It is because we need to learn from failing that we are alive. If we could live without failing - there would be no need to live.
ReplyDeleteI think this is only part of the story. It's not enough just to learn the right lessons as you go through life. There needs to be the assurance that once you learn the lessons (ie. turn towards God) then God will give you all of your hearts true desires. Either in this life or the next. Example, see Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Once Scrooge was finally awakened and his heart softened, his life was restored and given back to him. And even though we don't see it, we're certain he'll be reconnected with those from his past at some point.
ReplyDelete-Andrew E.
I needed this exactly now! Thank you
ReplyDelete"It is because we need to learn from failing that we are alive. If we could live without failing - there would be no need to live."
ReplyDeleteBravo!