I Am So Embarrassed - I was Wrong

I don’t know about you, but there are times in my life where I was involved in things that I thought were the right things to do and I gave it my all thinking it would be the solution to the world’s or the church’s problems (ok, maybe not so dramatic but you get the point). I poured myself into the activity, work, event or group. Yet, as time went along, I soon realized I was wrong about the people in the group or I was wrong about the motives of others or even about the results that would be accomplished through my efforts. In times like these, I have been tempted to take my ball and go home, to give up, to hide out or to avoid my brethren. It is hard to admit defeat. It is hard to fail. It is hard when people you trusted in let you down. It is especially hard when the people you are working with don’t want to go the same direction you want to go. As difficult as it may be, the last thing we need to do is run away. However, that is exactly what we do sometimes when we are embarrassed.

In this instance, let us learn from the apostle Paul. The first we learn of Saul of Tarsus, he was consenting to the death of Stephen. He was involved in what is described as a “great persecution” against the church. He “made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison” (Acts 8:1-3). It wasn’t long before he would have to face the reality that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He came to the reality that Jesus Christ is the Savior of those who believe and obey through the events on the road to Damascus and in the teaching of Ananias (Acts 9,22,26). Ananias challenged him with the greatest question of all, “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Paul was able to put his past mistakes behind him and move forward as a servant of the Lord.

When we make mistakes that turn out to be contrary to the will of God or when we try to do something thinking we are doing right but it turns out to be oh so wrong, we must not give up. We can change our lives and get right back to doing great things for Christ and His church. Oh, we may never forget those mistakes, but we can be forgiven of them and we can learn from them. Notice what Paul said about his former life: “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief...This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (1 Tim. 1:12-15). What is amazing to me is that Paul tried so hard to do what he thought was right...and yet he was as wrong as could be. He sincerely gave it his best. He said in this passage he did it in ignorance and in a lack of faith in Christ. In Acts 23:1, he said that he had lived his life in “all good conscience before God until this day.” He did his absolute best with the best intentions, but he was wrong. When faced with the truth of his actions, Paul admitted his mistakes and learned from them. He then went to work for the Lord.

Notice the continuation of his thoughts for 1 Timothy 1:16: “However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.” Paul is a pattern for us in many ways. For the purpose of this discussion, he is an example of what we do when we gave it our best, trying to do what is right, thinking we were on the right side of the equation, only to find out that we were wrong. When we are wrong, it is not the end of the world...as long as we repent and get right back to work for the Lord doing things His way. God is patient and longsuffering and He wants us to repent (2 Peter 3:9). We can overcome our mistakes through Christ.

Of course we realize that none of us are perfect and righteous before God in all things (Rom. 3:10). We realize that we have all fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). Yes, we understand that sin hurts God, others and even ourselves. Learn from David in his sins with Bathsheba: “I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me” (Ps. 51:3). He didn’t run and hide. He wanted to be restored to God and then he said he would “teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You” (vs.12,13). There is no need to be embarrassed. We all make mistakes and need God’s grace. While difficult to bear at times, sins are not fatal if we repent of them, learn from them, and then get to work for Lord.

I Am So Embarrassed - I Tried So Hard

I have tried very hard many times to do things that ended up blowing up in my face. I have a pencil lead in my right hand that is from trying to help a girl in school who was always picked on by others. I bent down to give the pencil to her that she dropped on the floor and when I gave it to her she yelled at me while slamming the pencil into the palm of my hand. She wasn’t trying to do me harm. She was striking back because she thought I was going to pick on her or do her harm like so many others had done. It hurt my feelings to be lumped into the group of those who were making fun of a disabled young girl when I was trying to do something good.

Do you realize that many times we face the same kind of hurt feelings and are floored by the reactions of people when we have tried to do something that was good and beneficial to those involved? There are times in life when we want to try something new or are interested in learning about something that our families and friends just don’t appreciate. What is worse is when we want to try something or get involved in a work or project with the church and face the same kind of ridicule or frustration. Maybe we wanted to teach a class on a certain subject or age group, or maybe we suggested a different method of greeting our visitors, or maybe we even were bold enough to suggest we change the order of worship or even the time that we meet and then were taken aside and shown “the way of God more accurately” by our brethren. In such cases, it would be so easy to run away and hide. It would be tempting to quit worshiping with that group and go somewhere else. It would be frustrating to feel like our opinion doesn’t matter.

When we are faced with rejection from our brethren when we are trying very hard to do what is right, we need to make sure we respond to the decision in the best possible way. We must realize that in matters of opinion, things don’t have to go my way. Additionally, we need to realize that there may be good reasons why the brethren don’t want to change. There may have been a similar mission tried in the past. There may have been an effort made that was rejected from others. There may be something in the story we do not know about and sharing those things with us might not be an option. Yes, it may be that the people aren’t ready to get to work and need some direction on the mission and purpose of the church. Yes, there may need to be an attitude adjustment made to certain individuals, but that is not our place. If we have made an offer or suggestion to the brethren and the eldership but it was rejected, we should not have a knee jerk reaction to take our ball and go home. We must humbly submit and keep striving toward helping others to give God first place in their hearts while helping the church to grow.

Can you imagine the embarrassment James and John felt in that Samaritan village where they wanted to command fire to come down and destroy the city? Jesus rebuked them for wanting to destroy men’s lives rather than saving them (Luke 9:51-56). When Jesus prophesied of His coming death, Peter said that he wasn’t going to let this happen. Jesus replied, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matt. 16:21-23). These three men would have felt embarrassment and frustration, but they did not leave Christ. In fact, they are later described as being a part of the group that turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). Don’t quit and don’t give up!

We can learn from the example of Aquila and Priscilla in how they worked with Apollos. Apollos was a man who loved God, was fervent in spirit, spoke and taught accurately, but didn’t know about the baptism of Christ. Fortunately, there was a loving couple who took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately and even sent a letter to other brethren so that Apollos would be well received and be put to work in the kingdom. When he arrived he was a great help to the church and he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly showing from Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ (Acts 18:24-28). Do you think that these three brethren hid from each other after this? I suggest to you that they loved each other and formed a closer bond because they were able to grow and further the kingdom. A problem was handled but it was handled in the right manner. 

If you have tried and been rejected, don’t feel like a failure. Keep on fighting for the Lord. If you are trying to help someone work more effectively for the Lord, don’t belittle them. Take them aside and teach and support them. Then let us all get to work together. If we do, there will not be embarrassment.