Humans do like failure; they do not like being told that they are not good enough or not qualified. The only problem is, failure is part of life. Every fails, or to put it differently, no one is perfect. This reality of failure creates a major dilemma for humanity. Failure is unavoidable, and everyone hates that this is so.

Humans, though, are quite creative at attempting to avoid failure albeit unsuccessfully. Many appreciate the scapegoat approach where it is someone or something else’s fault I failed. I bear no responsibility for my failure because I’m not really to blame. The Indiana Pacers didn’t lose the basketball because the Miami Heat were better but because the refs cheated the Pacers out of a win. California Chrome didn’t lose the Belmont Stakes because the other horses were faster but because the system is broken. I didn’t struggle in my race because I eat poorly and didn’t train but because the weather conditions weren’t right. I didn’t eat the fruit from the tree because I was sinning but because she gave it to me (even though I stood right here and watched her eat it first.) It’s not my fault!

But there is another approach that is also quite common when it comes to failure: changing the standard. Kids scores on tests are slipping…change the tests. Haven’t had a triple crown winner since 1978, change what horses are allowed to compete. Wide receivers have trouble catching the ball, make it against the rules for the defense to even touch the receiver. Feel guilty about a particular sin? Deem the Law culturally irrelevant. After all, did God really say….?

We simply do not like failure, and since we cannot change the fact that we fail, that we don’t measure up, that we aren’t good enough, we’ll blame what we can change: systems, Laws, regulations, all of those things which point out our failure. And then with that which declares us failures changed, eliminated, and out of the way, we are all winners!

But then why try? Why improve? Why strive for our best when we can be happy with mediocrity because the standard no longer calls for the best? Why push ourselves to be better? And from a spiritual stand point, are we not then simply content to remain wallowing in our spiritual filth? Without a standard and a declaration of failure to point us to the solution, we remain in our failure. With no Law to prick our conscience, what drives us to our need for a Savior? Without failure, there is no quest for growth.

Failure is painful and no one likes pain. But without knowledge of failure, we never change. By changing that around us which declares us failures, we eliminate the need for us to change. Without failure, we are content with where we are right now. Failure reminds us that where we are right now is not good. Without the pain of failure, culture stagnates. We need to feel the pain of failure, because without that pain, we will never keeping strive for true perfection, and spiritually, we will not seek the source of perfection. As Jim Miller once said in the face of failure “Cheer up! You’re worse than you think you are!” Failure is reality, one we don’t like to acknowledge, but that pain of failure drives us. Without it, we’ll just sit here.