When We Don’t Succeed…

I love this time of year for a lot of reasons. Of course, one of the fun reasons is the NCAA tournament. As one who doesn’t just watch games, but who studies the sport, this is the greatest sporting event of the year to me.

I am one of those who fills out brackets, trying to predict who will win each game. And, yes, I fill out ONE each year (I don’t change so I can say, “Hey, I got that game right,” when, actually, I got it right on one bracket out of 8, like some people I know!). Have I ever gone 63 for 63? Never. In fact, while I’ve had some good years, I’ve never gotten all that close to perfection.

But what about when the tournament is over and my brackets are wrong? There is always next year! Nearly everyone who has filled out a bracket decides to give it another try the next year (and the next, and the next……..).

With that being how we treat something so trivial as a tournament bracket, why do many of us give up after one attempt when striving to do something spiritual?

• Many will try to read the Bible through in a year, but don’t finish. Their solution? Just don’t try again.
• Some will try to talk to a neighbor or classmate about Christ, but, when that person isn’t converted immediately, we give up.
• Many will try to teach a Bible class, but may think they didn’t do so well. So, when asked again, they will search for any and every excuse to not teach again.
• Some to “commit” to a time of devotion and prayer, but, as soon as something else comes up, they never go back to that commitment.

Sadly, the same is often true of entire congregations.

• “We had a Gospel Meeting in the past, and people just didn’t come, so we aren’t going to try that anymore.”
• “We used to have singings, but you couldn’t get your own people to show up, so we quit.”
• “We used to take our kids on trips, but they acted up, so we stopped.”
• “We tried to have a family ministry at one time, but it just didn’t get off the ground, so we gave it up.”

Certainly, there is a time to reevaluate and, at times, we need to totally stop a program or event. However, there is also something to be said for doing something good, but just doing it in a different way! Just because it didn’t work before, it may not be the program’s fault; it may be how it was structured or when it was scheduled. If VBS isn’t a big draw on weeknights in July, why not try it on Spring Break or during the day? If kids have caused trouble on trips in the past, have you evaluated where you were going and who was chaperoning the trip? If doorknocking isn’t working in the way you would like, could you try a different neighborhood, or maybe a different time of the week?

Elders have a difficult job, in that they must evaluate and weigh all these factors. I never want to see a congregation just “give up” on a good work, especially after just one or a couple of “tries” at it. Have the wisdom to evaluate honestly. Check the calendar. See who is “behind” the program or event. What kind of organizational structure is used in the planning of the event?

We used to tell our kids, “If at first you don’t succeed, try; try again.” Maybe we should add one step and do that ourselves: “If at first you don’t succeed, evaluate, then try again.”

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What are your thoughts? What have you used to change or stop a program or event? Why did you do that?