Oops, My Bad!
You probably do not remember what you were doing on December 30, 2001. I do—it was one of the worse ministry experiences I have ever had. The staff and I had this “great idea” that on that evening that we should do a “staff roast” and let people in the congregation tell stories about us. I confess that we must have eaten a tray of stupid sandwiches before that brainstorming session. It was a huge mistake. (Please do not ever try the roast thing!!! It’s just not good—and that is all I can say without breaking down into tears!)
Last year we wanted to do a baptism in the Fine Arts Center, the place on the campus of Anderson College where we are currently meeting. We scheduled the event—and had 111 people to dunk! One slight problem—the place where we are meeting is, once again, an ARTS center…most of those do not come equipped with places to baptize people.
“No problem,” we thought, “we will just put a hot tub on the stage and baptize people that way.” Once again, I confess, we had hit the stupid sandwich buffet.
I KNEW we were in trouble when our youth pastor baptized the first person and tons of water came spilling over the side. (No, we did not expect that!) This continued until the pool was only about half full. (We later got an e-mail from a person who said they noticed that someone’s elbow did not go completely under the water…and because of that she was concerned that the person was not truly baptized! NO—I am not kidding!)
NO PROBLEM—after the “first round” of baptisms the band played and we brought in a water hose from outside to fill up the hot tub. BAD IDEA! Why, well, for starters—we were not aware that the outlet we had the hot tub plugged into had tripped—and so the “hot tub” was no longer getting hot. The second problem was that is was about 20 degrees outside…and so I am literally standing in this freezing cold water for 30 minutes & trying to look happy about the whole thing.
Lesson learned—we still do baptisms—but not that way—it costs us several hundreds of dollars to get the stage at the Fine Arts Center refinished—and it took me three days to warm up!
I could go on and on about all of the really stupid things we have done around here…and here is my promise—as long as I am pastor—we will continue to make some really dumb decisions from time to time—we call them mistakes.
Mistakes are common—everyone makes them—it is an identifying mark for humans. AND organizations make them—the government, stores, the church (seriously—does anyone think the crusades were a good idea?)
I spoke with the staff this past Monday about making mistakes and shared the following—this is, of course, an abbreviated version.
#1 - If You Are Not Making Mistakes Then You Are Not Trying!
I can say that our mistakes here at NewSpring have came from people who love Jesus, love the church, love people—and are really trying to do what they think is right. In doing that we will drop the ball from time to time. However, that is OK—the church has played it safe for way too long.
#2 - Do Not Try To Hide The Mistake!
If you make a mistake then address it. We don’t do this many times in the church world, we “pray about it” and expect God to handle it. (Does it seem that at times we over spiritualize everything?) But the best thing to do when making a mistake is to address it!
#3 - Do Not Fear The Outcome
When you make you can count on the fact that your approval rating will drop in the public polls. Our job, however, is not to worship people—but to worship Jesus—to do what is right before doing what is easy…and trusting in a Sovereign God to take control.
#4 - The Only Bad Mistakes Are The Ones You Do Not Learn From
Uh, enough said, right?
I can’t wait to see what the next five years of ministry looks like here at NewSpring. God is blessing us so much…and we are going to continue to strive to be excellent in all that we do—to be creative—to be relevant—and to teach the truth in an uncompromising way. However, we are not perfect—and we will make mistakes—but that’s a lot better than playing it safe!