Failure Is Not Fatal
Tom Shrader examines Acts 13:13 and the story of John Mark's desertion of Paul and Barnabas, tracing how that failure was ultimately redeemed by the time Paul wrote 2 Timothy. He draws a parallel to Peter's denial of Christ, contrasting Peter's broken repentance with Judas's mere regret to show why one became a pillar of the church and the other did not. Turning to James 1:2-4, Shrader calls believers to welcome trials as inevitable and purposeful, because tested faith produces endurance, endurance produces maturity, and maturity yields the wisdom God freely gives to all who ask.
“Failure is neither permanent nor fatal, but indeed can be the basis for growth in your life.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Acts
Recorded: 2000 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 49 min
Themes: failure, redemption, repentance, perseverance, trials, second chances, regret, endurance, recovering from failure, feeling unworthy, struggling with shame, new believer, mentor, young adult, navigating disappointment, returning to faith
Scripture: Acts 12:25, Acts 13:2, Acts 13:7, Acts 13:13, Acts 13:42, Acts 15:36-37, 2 Timothy 4, Matthew 26:26, Matthew 26:30, Matthew 26:33-34, Matthew 26:57-58, Matthew 26:69-75, James 1:1-5, 1 Corinthians 10:13, Revelation 2
Theological Themes: sanctification, perseverance of the saints, repentance, soteriology, spiritual maturity, theodicy, suffering, restoration
Full Transcript
John Mark's Desertion
Open your Bibles to Acts chapter 13. It is exactly where we left off two weeks ago.
Acts chapter 13, verse 13: "Now Paul and his companions." We noted before that there is a subtle shift here. In Acts chapter 12, verse 25, we see the order that has appeared all the way through the book of Acts: "Barnabas and Saul return from Jerusalem." When God speaks in Acts chapter 13, verse 2, it is again "Barnabas and Saul." In verse 7, when Sergius Paulus summons them, he summons "Barnabas and Saul." But now we see a subtle change take place — actually two of them.
The Jewish name Saul is gone, replaced by his Roman name Paul, which is the name we will see essentially through the balance of the book. And now Paul is seen by Luke, as he writes, as the leader of the group. Look at verse 42 of Acts chapter 13: "as Paul and Barnabas were going out." The transfer of leadership has taken place.
They are moving out in verse 13, putting out to sea, and eventually they arrive in Pamphylia. And John left them and returned to Jerusalem. If all we had was that bare fact — that John had left — our tendency would probably be to believe he left on good terms, that it was perhaps even a planned departure, just part of the overall strategic plan for this missionary journey.
Paul and Barnabas Disagree Over Mark
Turn ahead to Acts chapter 15. Beginning at verse 36, as Paul and Barnabas begin their second missionary journey: "After some days Paul said, let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaim the word of the Lord and see how they are." Verse 37: "Barnabas was desirous of taking John, called Mark, along with them. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along, who had deserted them at Pamphylia."
Turning back to Acts 13, verse 13, we now understand that John Mark left them — he deserted them. This was not a planned or scheduled departure. This was not part of the overall plan. John Mark bailed.
Why Did John Mark Leave?
Why did he leave? We don't know for certain, but here are some possibilities worth considering. It could be that, as Barnabas' cousin, he resented the new leadership. When you see a leadership change take place between two people, there has to be all sorts of tension surrounding that. It could also be that he was simply afraid of the dangers ahead. As dangerous as the journey had already been, Barnabas and Paul were getting ready to head into some very dangerous territory.
It may be that as a Jew he was somewhat resistant to this aggressive outreach to the Gentiles. Or it could be he was simply homesick — remember, we are told he was a young man. There is something almost familiar about that: the freshman who could not wait to leave home, who had no use for his parents or his house, who was so eager to get out on his own — and then he is gone a few weeks and realizes it is hard out there and he wants to come home.
Or it may be that John Mark was a strong starter who simply could not close the deal. He could not finish. We see a lot of those, and perhaps you have seen them in your own Christian life as well. In the priority living studies during the week, a man will come for the first time, and when it is done he will say, "Man, that was terrific — I've never seen anything like this. How long have you been doing this?" Ten years. "I don't know where I've been."
From Failure to Usefulness
We don't know exactly why John Mark left, but we do know how the story ends. This is the point where, if Paul Harvey were here, he would say, "Now, for the rest of the story." There is this departure, and so strong is the disagreement over it that Barnabas and Paul split their missionary teams. Paul leaves with Silas, and Barnabas takes John Mark.
At the end of his life, in 2 Timothy chapter 4, Paul is in prison in Rome and senses he is about to die. Here is what he writes to Timothy: "Only Luke is with me. When you come, pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is — how great is this — useful to me for service." This is the rest of the story for John Mark.
There is a principle we see fleshed out in John Mark's life, and it is fleshed out in other stories and personality profiles throughout Scripture. That same principle can be put to work in your life. Here it is: failure is neither permanent nor fatal, but can indeed be the basis for growth in your life.
Failure and the Arena
We live in a society that so emphasizes success. Consider two teams — the Rams and the Titans — who at the beginning of the year no one really expected to be where they are, and yet at the end of the day one of them is going to be called a loser. We live in a results-oriented society, and because of that, I think we have missed the great joy of understanding the benefit of failure.
Bill Gates said in an interview last week that if you are a person who has never failed, he guarantees you will be working for someone who has. Failure is not permanent; failure is really the basis of success. It is neither permanent nor fatal, but can become the very material that allows us to grow.
Theodore Roosevelt used to talk about being in the arena — the value of being in the battle, even if you are bloodied and sweaty, even if you are on the short end of a decision. At least you are in the arena, and it is so much better to be there than to be a spectator who never participates. There is only one way in this life that you will never fail, and that is to never strive to do anything.
Peter's Denial
Turn with me to the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26. We are in the last day of Christ's life. There is a plot to kill Him, Judas has struck a bargain to turn Him over, and now in verse 26 the Lord's Supper is instituted — the same celebration we have every Sunday here.
Verse 30: "And after singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." Jesus then says to them, "You will all fall away because of me this night." Peter cannot handle this. Look at verse 33: "Peter answered and said, 'Even though all may fall away because of you, I will never fall away'" — not just tonight, never. And Jesus said to him, "Truly I say to you, this very night before the cock crows, you shall deny me three times." And Peter said to him, "Even if I have to die with you, I will not deny you."
We have to believe that Peter meant it. In fact, we are told that when they came to arrest Jesus, one of the disciples took a sword — apparently not a skilled swordsman, for he missed his target and only severed an ear. John's Gospel account tells us that was Peter. Peter was there, and Peter meant what he said.
Look at verse 57. They have seized Jesus and led Him away to the high priest, the scribes, and the elders. Verse 58 tells us Peter follows at a distance. The others may be gone — we believe John was there as well — but Peter is at least there. Now comes his test, his trial.
Verse 69: "Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a certain servant girl said to him, 'You too were with Jesus the Galilean.' But he denied it before all of them, saying, 'I do not know what you are talking about.'" When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant girl saw him and said to those who were there, "This man was with Jesus of Nazareth." Now the denial becomes more adamant and vehement. Verse 72: "And again he denied him, this time with an oath: I swear I do not know the man."
Verse 73: a little later a bystander came up and said, "Surely you are one of them, for the way you talk gives you away — your dialect is from that same area." Verse 74: "Then he began to curse, and he swore, and he said, 'I do not know this man.'" And immediately the rooster crowed. "And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said: 'Before the cock crows, you shall deny me three times.'"
Weeping Bitterly: The Key to Recovery
Now comes the key to allowing failure to become not fatal or permanent, but the basis for growth. "He went out and wept bitterly." There were two men who really failed in a big way that night. One was —
Two Men, Two Responses
Judas and Peter could not have had more different results from their failure. Judas goes away filled with despair and eventually hangs himself. Peter becomes one of the pillars of the church. Why? Two men who had both denied and betrayed Christ — why does one have one destiny and the other a completely different one?
The answer is right there in the text. Peter goes away and weeps bitterly. Judas was filled with regret. Peter was filled with repentance. Judas was truly sorry about what happened, but Peter was broken. His heart was broken in two.
Throughout our time studying Scripture we have talked about Peter — poor, stumbling Peter with his foot in his mouth, denying the Lord. And yet this broken man becomes a pillar in the church. Peter hears the Great Commission and begins to go and to preach. Peter takes a role of leadership among the apostles. Peter stands up in Acts chapter 2 and delivers a powerful sermon, and 3,000 people come to Christ. Peter is the one God uses to heal the lame beggar. Peter is the one who stands, not before some servant girl, but before the very powers that had the ability to destroy him, and declares, "I can't stop talking about this because Jesus is the only name that truly saves."
That is the same Peter we look at and say, "How could he possibly do this?" Peter becomes the illustration that reminds us that failure is neither permanent nor fatal. In fact, it can become the very basis for growth.
Turning to James
Failure always comes as a result of a trial or difficulty. So what does God say to us about trials? Turn to the right, almost to the back of your Bible, to the book of James. You will pass Hebrews, and then you will arrive at James. In the very introduction to this book we find some valuable lessons about how we can become people who overcome the trials and difficulties we face in life.
James writes: "James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad." One translation renders it "scattered abroad." We understand them to be scattered because of persecution and suffering they had endured, so much so that they had left Jerusalem entirely. This is the group James is writing to. So it makes perfect sense that he would begin by speaking directly to them about trials, suffering, pain, and hardship.
Consider It All Joy
Here is what he writes in verse 2: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect" — that word means mature, not without flaw — "complete, lacking in nothing."
James is offering a different approach to trials. Rather than push them away, he says to welcome them. Count it joy that these trials are in your life. The reason is straightforward: your faith needs to be tested, and when your faith is tested, it produces endurance. That endurance in your life results in maturity. And as a result of that maturity, you gain wisdom — as James goes on to say in verse 5: "If anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him."
The simple formula James gives us is this: faith plus trials equals endurance. Trials become, if you will, the spiritual aerobics that give us the ability to persevere.
The Spiritual Aerobics Illustration
I was talking to someone this week — and then someone else just this morning — and we had exactly the same conversation. I told these people: I am this close to considering working out. There is a process happening here. I did not say I am thinking about working out, or that I am going to work out. I said I am this close to considering the possibility of working out. Part of what has moved me toward that is finding myself a little low on endurance — not quite able to hang in there as long as I once could, not thinking as sharply as I used to. By about eight or ten in the morning I am pretty much out of energy, and I figured I ought to stop and take a look at that. Someone suggested that if I exercise, eat correctly, and pursue aerobic activity, I will have more endurance. I am not sure if that is true. I am this close to considering it as a possibility.
But this I do know to be true: testing becomes spiritual aerobics. My faith is released and strengthened in the midst of tests. That is where endurance is found. Our natural tendency is to push tests and challenges away, but James says no — welcome them.
What James Teaches Us About Trials
If I gave you the time to work through James's teaching on trials, you would arrive at the same list every time. Here it is.
First, trials are inevitable. James says "when you encounter various trials," not if. You are going to encounter various trials — that is the promise. Adversity, suffering, pain, and hardship are part of the human condition. They are part of being human.
Second, trials vary. Not every test for every person looks exactly the same. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:13, "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man." You cannot say that no one has ever been tested the way you are being tested. Paul says the trial you are going through is territory that others have traveled before you.
But here is what you also need to know from that same verse: God is faithful. How does God demonstrate His faithfulness in the midst of tests? He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able to bear.
The Way Through the Test
God never allows a test to come upon us beyond that which we are able to endure. In other words, I can never say at the end of the day, "The test was bigger than the spiritual resources God gave me to battle it." I can never say the devil made me do it. God is faithful — He will not allow that to happen.
Now, Paul uses the word temptation here, and the words test, trial, and temptation are basically all the same word. God never tempts us — God tests us. He brings, or allows, or causes these things in our lives for the purpose of seeing us grow and develop and become more like Him. Satan brings these tests or temptations into our lives for the purpose of destroying us or tearing us down.
Along with the temptation, God provides the way of escape. I have studied this verse more times than I can count, and I never saw this until this morning. Notice the definite article — "the way," as in "I am the way." What that means is there is only one way out of this. The way out is not over it, or around it, or to bypass it, or to say you are too busy to take the test. The only way is to go through it. You endure it by maintaining an attitude of prayer and trust, focusing on Christ and Christ alone.
Prosperity as the Greater Test
I want to make this point because I believe you will be tested. Tests and trials and difficulties are going to come into your life. In fact, in a room this size, I can guarantee that some of you are in for a significant test yet this week.
Let me give you a small exercise. Take a few seconds and think of a way God might test you this week — something He might bring into your life where you think, "I don't know if I can handle that one." If we could gather the data in your minds right now, here is what we would hear: cancer, heart attack, death of someone we care about, departure of a loved one, a rebellious child, economic difficulty. Some of you are inevitably thinking about a deal you were working on that did not close — the deal that fell apart this week — and you are thinking, "What a test." And those are indeed all genuine difficulties.
But let me show you how subtle tests can be. Someone has said that for every hundred people who can handle adversity, there is only one who can handle prosperity. I would wager that none of you said, "Here comes a real test this week — the deal is going to close." We never think that way, and yet I believe those situations are more difficult. I think prosperity is a far more difficult test than adversity.
Are there exceptions? Absolutely. And some of them are in this church and in this room. But generally speaking, you cannot be successful in man's economy and God's economy at the same time. The exceptions exist, but they are not many. Take the list of the Phoenix 40 and run it down — I guarantee you will find only a handful who are genuinely successful in both God's economy and man's economy.
Testing in a Time of National Prosperity
Real testing comes not only in the difficult moments we think of first, but also in times of success — when things are going well. How do you handle those areas of your life? I believe we are in for a time of great national testing, because things are very good right now, and they are only going to get better. The blip on the stock market this week is nothing. You know it is going to fifteen, eighteen, twenty thousand — it is going to happen. There is too much cash; it has to. Unless something catastrophic takes place, prosperity is coming, and that is precisely why I say we are in for a real tough time.
When that test comes, we cannot say we lacked the spiritual resources to fight it. These tests come in ways that are totally unexpected, and they are designed with a purpose — to test your faith and to produce perseverance. Therefore, I should approach them with a spirit of joy, because I know that even in the midst of a test, a trial, or suffering, God is purifying me. As my faith is tested, I develop perseverance and endurance, and through that I gain wisdom.
Asking God for Wisdom
If you need wisdom — if you want to know what God wants you to do — ask Him, and He will gladly tell you. He does not resent your asking.
Parents, maybe you can relate to this. Your child comes in and says, "Can I have five dollars?" and you find yourself thinking, "Didn't I give you five dollars yesterday? And ten dollars two days before that?" If you are honest, you sometimes feel like a human ATM. We do not always give without some sense of resentment. But God does — that is what the verse says. If you want to know what to do, all you have to do is ask God and He will tell you. I have never gone to Him and said, "Father, I need wisdom," and heard Him reply, "Tom, I gave you wisdom yesterday. You are overdrawn at the wisdom bank. I am done dealing with you." If I ask in the midst of the trial, and I ask knowing who He is, He gives me the ability to see life as it really is.
How to Respond When Tests Come
If tests are inevitable, let me give you some ideas for how to respond when they arrive. Number one, remember the big picture. God says, "My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts." You need to hold onto that. Number two, as tempting as it may be to feel that things are out of control, understand that they are not.
Learn the Lesson
Point three is a big one: if you are in the middle of a trial or a difficulty, learn the lesson. I think of a friend who, every time we talked about the Old Testament, used to say the same thing: "How stupid are these guys? How many times do they need to see it over and over again, and then they go and do the same thing again?" Almost without fail, once he made that statement, within a day or two he would do something very stupid, and I would have the privilege of saying to him, "How dumb are you?" How dumb am I?
I believe that for most of us, our most significant times of growth are in the midst of challenge and difficulty. You are a fool — you are an idiot — if you go through all of this and then, at the end of the day, haven't learned the lesson. How do we know you've learned? Not by a behavior change that lasts a day or two, a week or a month, but by life change that takes place.
Don't waste the trial. If God is trying to teach you a lesson, He is going to take you to the woodshed over and over again until you get it. He is not going to back off. If you have a problem and He wants to take the edge off of it, He is going to whack you and whack you and whack you. He is beating you down and breaking you apart — not because He wants to destroy you, listen closely, not because He wants to destroy you — but so He can put you back together in a way that brings honor and glory to Him. You are nuts if you won't learn this lesson.
Return to Where You Last Saw God Working
In your life you need to have realistic expectations. You need to know that you are going to have difficulties. You need to be able to share this burden and have other people around you. And if you are in the middle of a trial or difficulty, I suggest that you return to where you last saw God working — not necessarily physically, but spiritually.
That is the same advice Jesus gives to the church at Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2. He says, "Here is my problem with you: you have lost your first love." When they ask how to get it back, He answers: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen and repent and do the deed you did at first." And He adds that if they do not, He will come and knock them out of the place they are in unless they repent. It is serious business.
These failures do not have to be permanent, and they do not have to be fatal in your life. They can be the very basis of growth.
The Choice Is Yours
What will determine whether you grow from these trials or not? You will. I will guarantee it — I will stake my reputation on it — some of you are going to be tested in a significant way in the next week. It is just part of life. If you approach that test in a self-sufficient, arrogant way, or with the attitude that says, "I can fight my way through this — I got myself into it, I'll get myself out of it," you will be wrong. The behavior that got you into it is not going to get you out of it.
God will get you out of it if you come to Him. You do not fight these trials — you welcome them, because you understand they are the process by which God builds your spiritual endurance. They become your spiritual aerobics.
So listen to Him. Keep in mind the big picture. Learn, share, and strive to understand what He is teaching you.
Closing Prayer
Father, that is our prayer. Our prayer to You is that You would indeed teach us what You have for us to learn. And God, we say this almost boldly — with a confidence in You, not in ourselves — do whatever You need to do to bring us to the point where we are the men, the women, the students, the children that You would have us be. God, help us develop a supernatural attitude of joy in the face of the trials and difficulties that come into our lives. We pray this to You this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.