When Leaders Fail

Recently, I spoke in a church on a curious passage in John’s gospel: the interaction between Jesus and Simon Peter after the resurrection. 

 

It’s the account of Jesus asking Peter three times, “Do you love me?” and an obviously emotionally-wounded Peter finally responding as best as he could, “Master, you already know everything. You’ve got to know that I love you.”

Of course it’s reflective of an event that happened just a few weeks earlier. Peter denied that he had ever met Jesus when a young servant girl thought she recognized him as a disciple. It was followed by two more similar encounters and denials during the long night of Jesus’ arrest. After the third time, we are simply told in three of the gospels, that he went outside and “wept bitterly.”

That’s a hard cry.

All four gospels record this massive failure of nerve. It’s one thing to fail as a leader; it’s another to have it recorded in the most widely distributed bestseller in the universe. And in all four historical accounts. If it had been me, I would have said to all the writers, “Really?”

Three denials. Now three divine psychoanalytical questions. Jesus responds all three times with simply: take care of my sheep.

In other words, I’m putting you in charge—lead and spiritually-form my followers.

Failure has a way of imposing reality on us: we aren’t perfect. Not by a long shot. Oh, we may feign humility and eschew entitlements in front of others, but it’s not until we fail—and sometimes spectacularly—that we really understand the radical grace that’s been afforded us. It is in that dark aloneness that we discover how deeply we need the strength of grace God offers to us as leaders.

Peter's brash, impulsive personality was forced to face his own hubris and cowardice. The poser was exposed. It’s in that psychological swamp that God can actually use us, and in ways that don’t cause us to wither our own souls in the process.

Peter had seen Jesus perform mind-bending miracles with his own eyes, events that you and I would never witness. He was there. Yet in the crucible, he collapsed.

I’ve done that. You probably have, too.

Here’s the good news, leaders: The Father is in the restoration business. He doesn’t just restore us to where we were—he makes us better than that. More real. More alive. More honest. And better distributors of grace and truth.

Come clean with your failures. Regardless the consequences, God will make you a better human. And a better leader, whatever the span and scope. 

Dave Workman | The Elemental Group😂

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Every healthy organization is marked by four essential traits: Integrity, Passion, Servanthood, and Imagination. With a practitioner perspective, author Dave Workman offers common sense guidance and tools to maximize leadership. Filled with insight, humor, and reflective exercises, this is an indispensable exploration of these four universal values. Check out Elemental Leaders: Four Essentials Every Leader Needs...and Every Church Must Have.