Failure.

It’s probably one of the things we fear the most as ministry leaders.

But from where I stand, I think there are few things that would constitute true failure in ministry…

The abuse of leadership — most certainly.

Not tending to our own spiritual needs, and letting our cup run dry, such that we render ourselves ineffective would be another.

But I think much of what we do, and are called to be about, will include little failures here and there.

And I think that’s good.

In many ways it serves to remind us that God alone is God… and we are not.

It creates opportunities to further learn and grow in areas and understandings that we have not yet mastered.

It gives us reason to be creative, inventive and forward-thinking — never allowing ourselves to get too comfortable in our current approach to the work we have been called to.

But I think one of the ways that failure has the potential  to become ‘epic’ in proportion, is when we feel bound to a system or structure that doesn’t allow space for change to be made.

And so we don’t.

I find myself wondering — just a few weeks in to this new academic year — if there are things that already need to be changed within our ministry.

Is there something that feels off?

Is there something noticeably wrong?

Is there something that needs to be tweaked, modified or abandoned — already?

Yes, already.

Just because we work within the confines of semesters or quarter systems doesn’t mean that the different facets of our ministries must remain “as is” for the duration.

But it can be hard, once the “snowball” that is the new academic year, gets rolling — picking up both size and speed — to want to make a change — or to believe that we can.

And the reality is that sometimes — in certain areas — God will want us to hold on, push through and persevere through what feels like a fledgling — or even failing — season of ministry.

So it will be important that we are tuned in well to the working of God’s Spirit, such that  we know when failing is changing too soon — or waiting too long to change.

What do you think?

How are you open to change in the midst of ongoing ministry efforts?