DIFFERENT HUMILITY

 DIFFERENT HUMILITY

Would you like to be known as a humble person? There are few qualities that are admired nearly as much as humility. A humble person is considered a virtuous (good) person. We love world-class athletes and sporting heroes who are great at what they do, yet humble. We acclaim a true champion with the accolade, “They’re so humble!” Humility is prized today as one of the greatest virtues a person can attain. However, there was a time when humility was seen as weakness and something to be ashamed of — resembling its linguistic cousin — humiliation — and non-one ever wants to be humiliated! But then something dramatically changed the way the world regarded humility. Jesus the Christ entered the world. He exhibited a humility which involved the selfless care of others. This is what people saw (and experienced) when they encountered Jesus. Thus, no one challenged His claim of being humble when He declared-

Take My yoke on you and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:29 NET

Jesus gave the world a different perspective on humility. Those early followers of Christ became renowned for their embracing of humility. They set the example for future generations of Christ-followers to live humbly in service of others. Many of these godly Christ-followers were ordinary people who didn’t seek wealth or fame or even public attention. Their pursuit of humility was genuine and often resulted in costly selfless serving of others. Their lives became admirable and inspired millions of others to seek a relationship with the Christ and to follow His life of humility and service to others. There are many things that can be taught in this life, but there are some things that can only be caught by seeing it for yourself in someone else whom you come to admire.  

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love
Ephesians 4:2

IS TRUE HUMILITY TRULY ATTAINABLE?

Would the New Testament command followers of the Christ to do something that was impossible to do? Hardly! Would the New Testament command people to strive to attain an attitude, a virtue, that was unachievable? If you can demonstrate that you have become a considerate and gentle person, can you claim to be one without sounding arrogant (the opposite of humility)? Can someone take seriously the command to be humble and truly claim that they are without negating their claim in the process? Is it more humble to claim that you are not humble even if you are (and then, can a truly humble be truly humble if they lie about not being humble)? Perhaps the answer to these questions lies in what humility truly means. Consider these biblical commands to be humble: 

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Philippians 2:3

¶ Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience
Colossians 3:12

Considering these New Testament commands, we soon realise that the commands to be humble are couched within lists of other reasonably attainable commands: treat others kindly, be considerate of others, have compassion for people, be patient with others. Since these things can be done (and claimed to have been done), this supports the idea that humility can also be achieved. Perhaps then, the one who has demonstrated their obedience to the New Testament to be humble may not necessarily be proud or arrogant if they declare that they claim to be humble. 

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 14:11

TRUE HUMILITY

Humility is a hallmark of a true follower of Christ, because it was so integral to the character that Christ displayed. It is one of the goals of the Christian life. The two other most important Christian virtues, holiness and love, are the means by which a son or daughter of God becomes humble. In fact, this triumvirate of the Christian virtues lies at the core of what it means to live Christianly. Each of these virtues speaks to how we treat, think of, and relate to others.

• To live a holy life is to treat others respectfully in the light of our respect for God (Rom. 12:1). Thus, sexuality is expressed within the respect that we have God for decreed its exclusive boundaries within the covenant of marriage (1Thes. 4:3; Heb. 13:4).

• To live a life of love is to treat others in a way that seeks their highest good and is considerate of their welfare (1Cor. 13).

• To live a humble life is embody both of the virtues of holiness and love and in the process not seek to promote yourself but to help others who may not have anyone promoting them and their welfare. It demands that we not assume judgmental opinions about others, but seek to learn their stories and use our power for their benefit.

 

HUMILITY AND POWER

Can you be a powerful person (with position, privilege, influence) and also be a humble person? The answer from Christ seems to be, “Yes.” But it is a yes that comes with warnings. Power tends to corrupt people. Humility makes a person virtuous. Humility embraced by a powerful person makes them an admirable person. In John Dickson’s book, Humilitas, he defines humility as using one’s power for the good of others. He gives many examples of how this has been the case in the lives of those universally acknowledged as humble. His story of the three white Detroit teenage boys who got on a bus in the 1930s and thought it might be fun to taunt the solitary black man who was sitting quietly at the back of the bus is brilliant example of humility. The boys jibed the black man attempting to pick a fight with him. They called him all kinds of names and threw various insults at him. The black man just sat there unfazed and silent. When the bus came to the stop where the black man stood to his feet to get off, the three boys noticed for the first time that this black man was bigger than they had realised. Much bigger. As he stood us they noticed that he wasn’t quite the scrawny man they had assumed. As he walked past the now silent boys he took something from his pocket and gave it to one of the boys. After he go off the bus, the boy looked at what this black man had handed him. It was a card. It read – JOE LOUIS, Boxer. 

These boys had just encountered the future undefeated heavyweight boxing champion of the world. In fact, not just any heavyweight boxing champion, but the longest undefeated reign of any heavyweight champion in the history of boxing —  who is widely acclaimed as the greatest boxer of all time. These boys had nearly picked a fight with a man who would knock-out cold 52 of some of the toughest men on the planet. Yet, Joe Louis Barrow, ‘the Brown Bomber’, had used his power for their good!

But Joe Louis is not the greatest example of holding your power in restraint for the good of others, as an aspect of humility. Jesus is. Christ was not bragging when He said, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once send Me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53). Christ is therefore the greatest example of withholding your power for the good of others. But we should not be confused into thinking that humility is weakness. Having the power to hurt someone but choosing to restrain this power for their good is an act of humility. (There are times of course when evil must be restrained for the good of others which requires resistance and sometimes force which does not negate humility.) Most of us will be repeatedly tempted to use our power to hurt others who hurt us. When we yield to these temptations it undermines our pursuit of humility. Let us consider how we might pursue humility when we are tempted to get defensive and snap back at someone, or when we might use sarcasm or gossip to demean someone, or when we might present ourselves as being better than we actually are.

 

INSPIRATIONAL EXAMPLES OF HUMILITY

Having said that Joe Louis was a great example of humility, and that Jesus Christ was the greatest example of humility, I want to close my exhortation to regard humility as attainable by the example of a Polish priest by the name of Jerzy Popieluszko. Jerzy faced great oppression from the Polish Communist government in the early 1980s. Communists at this time treated Polish Christians with blatant brutality. But Father Popieluszko taught his congregation to love their persecuting enemies and not hurt them back. So powerful and popular were his sermons that they were shared widely around Poland on cassette tapes (ask your grandfather what these were). Then one day, the Communist Secret Police could take it no more and they kidnapped Jerzy and brutally murdered him and threw his battered body into a reservoir. The Sunday after his death, thousands gathered to hear Father Jerzy by a cassette tape of his last sermon, broadcast on loud-speakers by his church, in which he appealed to his flock to obey Christ and “do good to those who persecute you” and not to do harm  (Luke 6:27-29). The Police braced themselves for the anticipated riots to follow. But none came. The people had heeded their pastor’s words to obey Christ and the result was that, within six years, communism collapsed in Poland.

Thousands of Polish people gathered to pay tribute to the late Jerzy Popieluszko

Humility is lowering yourself rather than belittling yourself.

Humility is being honest without exaggerating.

Humility is listening and talking.

Humility is more asking and less telling.

Humility is helping more and still being prepared to be helped.

Humility associates with the unlikely not just because it blesses them, but because there is also a blessing in doing it.

Humility is prepared to join with others and blend into the crowd even when the spotlight is on someone else.

Humility admits dependency upon others—especially God and His mercy and grace.

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
First Peter 5:5

Humility must be attainable because we are commanded to exhibit it. “Humble yourself” the apostle Peter told his audience (1Pet. 5:6). The apostle Paul told the Corinthians that this was indeed what he had done when he came to them (2Cor. 11:7). He then proceeded to remind the Corinthians of his ministry among them in a fair and honest assessment of it. We shouldn’t confuse sharing such an honest assessment of ourselves as bragging. But neither should we think that we need to do it to anyone who would listen. In this instance, Paul was responding to opponents who were undermining the gospel and the faith of the Corinthians in it. May God help us each to be humble and all that that entails. And may we, by His grace, attain to this kind of humility and thereby reflect Christ more accurately to an increasingly confused, conflicted, broken world. And one final thing, just be careful who you pick a fight with on your next bus trip – or better still, make it a habit to not pick on anybody (especially heavyweight champions of the world!).  

Your pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

GOD DOESN'T GIVE US WINGS TO RUN FROM OUR TROUBLES

GOD DIDN’T GIVE US WINGS FOR A REASON!

The Psalmist once cried out to God for wings so that he could fly away from all his troubles. How many of us have joined the Psalmist in his prayer and added, “And me too Lord!” Yet God didn’t answer his prayer and never answers this for us either. As Francis Thompson found, running away from your problems only unleashes certain hounds who inevitably set off in pursuit and track us down. Wherever a person goes, they are often surprised to find their troubles have gone ahead of them. I think God didn’t give us wings for a reason.

Legend has it that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle decided to play a joke on five of his friends. He sent a telegram to each of them one night with the message- “All is known. Flee immediately.” That night, all five of friends fled England for France! What secrets do we each hide hoping that we will never be found out? How often do we run from our problems only to find them awaiting for us?

And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
Psalm 55:6

THE TWO TYPES OF TROUBLE

We all know that troubles come in two varieties: the ones we create and the ones we didn’t. In both cases it is a test of our character (who we really are) when are confronted by them. Recently I had the painful experience of public humiliation. In that moment, all eyes were on me. I felt the Psalmist’s prayer of Psalm 55 pounding in my heart. I knew that in the next few moments my true character would be revealed to everyone in the room. It’s in moments like this that I am challenged to apply the Apostle Paul’s instructions to the Philippians when he told them to have the mind or attitude of the humiliated Christ-

You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death–even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:5-8

The opening chapters of the Book on human history reveals that mankind’s most natural impulse when confronted by our own failure is to:  i) hide, and if this doesn’t work, then: ii) blame.  

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden… He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:8, 11-13

THE DEFAULT RESPONSE TO TROUBLE

The antidote to blame is humility which enables us to accept responsibility. This especially applies to the kind of trouble which we contribute to. It is in this light that Psalms 51 and 32 offer us such hope. The author of these Psalms had failed terribly. It was the kind of failure that today would have not only meant the worst kind of public shaming, but also life in prison. David had resorted to the default human response to terrible failure and tried hide and cover it up. But as usual, this strategy always, always, always, makes the problems from failure far worse. Before he get fall back onto option #2, Nathan the Prophet removed it from him.

¶ Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
Second Samuel 12:7-9

I imagine that David’s heart would have been pounding in his chest, his head would have begun to feel hotter, his mind would have been racing. What could he do now? The result of this moment was Psalm 51 where he made confession before God and, since it is a public Psalm, he also made confession before those he had let down. This is God’s remedy for our failure. David would teach this principle to his young son Solomon –

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Proverbs 28:13

It’s doubtful that Solomon ever truly appreciated the riches of the wisdom that his father gave him in that moment, but then again, Solomon was never blessed with a Nathan in his life (he was the only king of Israel not to have a prophet minister to him).

When David confessed his sin to God, acknowledge the injury he had caused to the Name of God, sought to make restitution to those he had hurt, and surrendered his life afresh to God, he experienced the joy of God’s cleansing forgiveness.

¶ Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

¶ For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

¶ I acknowledged my sin to You,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Psalm 32:1-5

WHAT FRANCIS THOMPSON FOUND

I mentioned Francis Thompson earlier. He was an extremely bright young man with a very promising future as a medical student. But he stumbled. Something happened. He doesn’t tell us what. But we do know that after Medical School, he moved from Scotland to England and lived on the streets of London where he became an opium addict. In his worst moments his life hung in the balance and he was cared for by a kind-hearted prostitute. In his good moments he was one of English literature’s finest poets. G.K. Chesterton described him as “the greatest poetic energy since Browning.“[*]  He wrote a poem called The Hounds Of Heaven. He describes the wayward being pursued by God through His ‘hounds’ (the ministry of the church, the ministrations of our conscience, and the mediation of the Holy Spirit). No matter where the wayward attempts to flee from these troubling hounds, he cannot. Like the hounds of old used then by hunters, God has a way of pursuing and bringing the wayward to their knees and summoning them to experience what King David described as the greatest blessing available to a man – the blessing of having our sins forgiven by God.

The other day I met with such a blessed person. They had stumbled. They had fled and hid. Things only got worse for them. The internal turmoil they had been experiencing had impacted their physical well-being. We spoke. They described their repentance and shared empathy for those they had hurt (a sign of genuine repentance). Many of the troubles they now faced had not vanished, but it was now obvious that they would now be dealing with their various challenges with the strength of a clean heart and the assurance of God’s presence. 

KIND-HEARTED WING-CLIPPERS

Maybe God has used you as one of His ‘hounds’? The Prophet Nathan was King’s David’s ‘hound’. If you are, chances you yourself were once ‘hounded’ by someone who cared enough to chase you down. The Apostle Paul spoke to the hounds of Galatia and gave them some sombre exhortations which godly hounds today should take careful note of as they seek to clip the wings of their wayward brothers and sisters who would rather fly away from their troubles than deal with them –

¶ Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.
Galatians 6:1-5

While the old saying, “If God wanted man to fly He would have given him wings!” is wrong in so many ways, when it comes to dealing with our failures - especially relationally - it’s very true. You may not be able to fly away from your troubles (Psalm 55), and even though you may want to take the next best alternative (running and hiding, Gen. 3) there is a grace available to you from God that can make you stronger, cleaner, taller (Psalm 32), if you confess, repent, make restitution, and seek restoration (Psalm 51). Interestingly, although we are created in the image of the God who is described as having "wings" which He uses to rescue (Exodus 19:4) and safeguard (Psalm 36:7), I think God didn’t give us wings for a reason.

Amen.

Ps. Andrew Corbett  

Not Many Do This Well

NOT MANY DO THIS WELL

There's something that we humans do regularly, but rarely do any of us do it well. And even though Jesus now shares our humanity, He never did it - yet remains the world's greatest authority on how to do it well. And in age where success is applauded, craved, prized, taught, and studied, this is one thing isn't - but we would do well to do well.

¶ "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Luke 22:31-32

Since we're all going to fail we may as well learn to do it well. Jesus knew that Peter would fail Him. But He gave Him instructions on how to do it well. And this is the key to failing well. It's not that Jesus wants anyone to fail. It's that when we do, we know what to do next rather than making our failure greater by adding to it. 

"For the righteous falls seven times and rises again,
but the wicked stumble in times of calamity."
Proverbs 24:16

When failure was introduced into the world it was immediately made worse when Adam and Eve attempted to hide from the God Who Sees All. Since then it seems that this reflex response to having our failings exposed is now ingrained in our DNA. Running, avoidance, withdrawal, sulking, pity-parties - call it what you will - it's all a form of hiding. Hiding from others when we fail only adds to our failure. Instead of running and hiding after failure, Jesus calls us to "turn" back. 'Turning back' can involve confession of our failure; repentance of our wrongdoing; restitutionof loss caused; and apologising for the injury caused. 

The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus' side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, "Lord, who is it?"John 13:22-25

Most of us fail poorly. We not only run, hide, or avoid, we also deny. Failing well cannot happen if we deny our failure. When Adam was found by God after he had failed, he used a variation of denial called blame. "It's not my fault!" Adam protested in defense of his failure, "It was the woman You gave me!" I used to think that Adam was blaming Eve. And he may have been. She was close, compliant, and somewhat complicit. People who don't fail well nearly always look for someone 'soft' nearby to blame. But upon closer examination of what Adam said to God, it seems that he did what many people still do: he blamed God - "the woman You gave me!" Have you ever met someone who is angry at God? Are you angry at God? 

Jesus told Peter that after he had failed, he was to turn and strengthen his brothers. Those who have failed have a painful advantage over those who haven't. Failure can actually be a catalyst for strength. Everyone's heard of the poor eleven year old boy who was so weak and skinny while playing at the beach that the local bully saw him as an easy target and kicked sand in his face. He wasn't able to defend himself or fight back and one day soon after while at the Brooklyn Zoo he noticed how strong the lions were. He realised that lions never went to a gym or lifted weights. All they had, he reasoned, was their own muscles which they could stretch and work against each other. He used these principles to develop his own muscles and vowed that no-one would ever kick sand in his face again. Other notable failings include Winston Churchill's disastrous contribution to the start of World War One, and the strength those failings helped to produce in Winston Churchill's contribution throughout World War Two. And the strength that the failed Apostle Peter, who had shamefuly denied Christ publicly three times, demonstrated on the Day of Pentecost. If you have failed well, you may have a reserve of strength that you didn't know you had that will enable you to face potential failure head-on and overcome it.

Failing well gives a person an authority to speak to others who are facing failure poorly. The young woman who failed and now looks everyday into the young eyes of the consequences of that failure. When she speaks to other younger girls about guarding their moral virtue, she has an authority to speak and a right to be heard.

¶ The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand.
Psalm 37:23-24

I fail. I don't always fail well. Sometimes (more times than I care to disclose) I fail poorly. When my failures hurt people or strain my relationships with others, I may not have necessarily failed poorly. But if I avoid attempting to repair this breach by not apologising or clarifying or explaining myself more clearly, then I have failed poorly. If I fail and then sulkily withdraw and allow my pride to prevent me from learning from my failure and trying again with these newly gained lessons, then I have failed very poorly. If I fail and look for someone to blame, then I have failed poorly. If I refuse to be strengthened from my failure, then I have failed poorly. I hope to encourage you to fail well. But it would be remiss of me if I failed to mention one more aspect about the art of failing.

We might call this final aspect of failing, false failing. This is where we think we have failed. Joseph may have thought he had failed when he shared his dreams with his envious brothers (Genesis 37). When he was thrown into the pit his feelings of failure may have been confirmed. When he was sold into slavery in Egypt his sense of having failed may have become a conviction. But as it eventually transpired, Joseph hadn't failed. Perhaps you can look back over your life and identify false failings? In one sense the Cross of Christ is the greatest example of a false failing. It appeared that Christ had failed when He was crucified - indeed, this is what His remaining disciples assumed. But this was false. And it highlights one of the greatest possibiities about how to fail well :  God redeems (makes good come from bad).

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.Romans 8:28

We all do it, so might as well do it well. If you have lost hope, confidence, or belief because you have failed, it's not too late to redeem your failures and do well. If you have stopped doing what you know you should be doing (feeding yourself spiritually through God's Word, praying your heart to God, repenting, maintaining fellowship with your church family). Your true Enemy wants you to fail poorly - after all, Jesus warned us that the Devil seeks to steal, kill and destroy you (John 10:10). But at the same time and in the same verse, Jesus declares a profound principle for failing well that involves turning to Him. Jesus can help you to fail well and God can redeem your failures with just one starting prayer of turning to God. Let's fail well.

Ps. Andrew

I WANT YOU TO FAIL

I want you to fail. Not all the time. Hardly at all actually. But unless you're trying, stretching, striving, and seeking to reach your fullest potential, you're almost certainly not failing enough! The path to success is paved with failures! And in Tasmania, we are surrounded by a culture that hates to fail. Ironically, this guarantees that we rarely succeed like we should! Fear. Fear of change. Fear of failure. Fear of hard work. Fear of facing challenges. If you want to be a success you must overcome these fears and occasionally fail!

As a believer you should be used to failing - because you are striving to be all God wants you to be beyond where you are currently. Yet, as you've experienced, you are not yet who you will fully be. Along God's journey for your life your sense of who God has made you to be grows. This sense of identity is honed by our failures. I think I am something but after continual repeated miserable failures I realise I am not. On the hand, I become curious about another pursuit, try it, fail, learn from it, grow my curiousity about it, keep trying and eventually succeed. Without a preparedness to fail you can never succeed.

For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.
First Timothy 4:10

One of the people I've been coaching was presented to me when she was 5 (she is now 12). At just 5 years of age her potential as a champion tennis player was obvious. But she had some obstacles to overcome. She had a number of dietary restrictions (dairy, nuts, gluten) which has meant that we have had figure out how best to fuel and build her. But by far her biggest disadvantage, and her severest handicap, is her perfectionism. Nothing has come close to causing the damage that this wretched disease has done to her. Two weeks ago, durng the school holidays, we trained together two hours a day. (We had previously only ever done one hour sessions a couple of times a week.) She was training for the try-outs to represent Tasmania - only the best of best girls would be chosen - and she was determined to be one of them. But she had tried-out last year and failed.

This year she was determined. When failure comes knocking, send Determination to answer the door! She knew that in order to reach her potential she had reach. Our training session were brutal. One earlier morning our court was covered in black ice and the temperature was still around 1ºC  then it started raining. But she continued to train. The day before the lead-up tournament to the try-outs, we trained even harder and did so under match conditions. While I felt like a bully, I beat her to 'love' in three of the five sets we played and only conceded three games. She got in her Mum's car after our session and cried. She had once again tasted failure on the eve of everything she had been working so hard for. But the next day, she brought her door-greeter with her (Determination) and dished out a few lessons of her own. Then in the try-outs she earned her place onto the State Team to represent Tasmania in Brisbane in October. Without facing failure she could never have succeeded. After her try-outs I told her that she played an almost perfect game. "But I made so many mistakes!" I then explained that under match-conditions she was always going to make mistakes. Whenever you are trying to succeed there will always be failures along the way.

"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able."
Lke 13:24

Tasmania desperately needs people to strive toward fulfilling their potential. They are created by God to do so. There are Tasmanians whose destinies involve learning what's necessary to find cures for 'incurable' diseases. There are Tasmanians who have a destined purpose to produce art, music, literature that will literature mold a generation and change the course of history. There are Tasmanians who have a destiny to start businesses that provide cost effective solutions to those in need. There are Tasmanians who are called by their Creator to be in Government and positions of civic responsibility that will ensure that our State can prosper and flourish. There are Tasmanians whom God is calling to be a vital part of a local church that will grow bigger than anything the culture currently says is possible - not merely a church of dozens, or even hundreds.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 
Second Corinthians 9:8

Will you fail? Will you be who God has called you to be? Will you answer your fears' door-knocking by sending Determination to answer the door? Will you give your life so fully to Christ that you are prepared to humbly take your position in the picture that Christ is presenting to the world? Today, pictures are generally made up of small dots called 'pixels'. The bigger and more detailed the picture, the smaller and the greater the number of pixels required. One of the problems we have in Tasmania is that too many pixels want to be the picture - not make up the picture. Jesus is the 'Picture'. Not us. 

Because we don't want the picture of our lives visible to the world to look bad, we refuse to join the other pixels who are striving to form the grandest picture they can of Christ. This fear of failure then impacts directly on our spiritual health. But just as John The Baptist said, I must decrease and He must increase (John 3:30). Please fail more. Please. Tasmania urgently needs Christians who have tasted, learned from, and overcome failures - who understand that life is not about them and their needs. In other words, it's not that we want or need you fail as if that is the end of the story. Failure for winners is never the end of the story. Failure for winners is the schooling, strength, and strategy for success. And Tasmania must have you succeed beyond anything you've ever enjoyed thus far. Your success is our success. But wait, I hear a knock at our door. Shall we answer it? Or shall we send our Door-greeter?

Ps. Andrew