Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:10] Welcome to Friday's edition of the weekday podcast. This whole week has been built around John, chapter 21, and the idea that we can build bridge towards those that hurt us. And today, I think, is a very important episode, a great one to end the week on. It's called this Failure. It isn't the final word. Failure isn't the final word. In John 21, in verses 15 through 17, Jesus gives Peter a job. He says, feed my sheep. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. And here's what's so stunning of what Jesus does with Peter. He doesn't just forgive Peter after he's blown it. Instead, he restores his calling. Now think about it for a minute. Peter had publicly, humiliatingly denied knowing Jesus, not just once, but three times in front of witnesses. There's no quiet way to come back from that. It was so public. And after the resurrection, I imagine Peter was wrestling with a question. A lot of us know, well, after what I did, do I even have a place here anymore? And Jesus answers that question not with a speech, but with an assignment. He says, feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. He doesn't say, it's okay, Peter. Maybe just sit this one out for a while. He doesn't say, well, see how you do before we give you anything important.
[00:01:21] Instead, he hands Peter the very responsibility he was called to from the beginning, right there on the beach the morning after breakfast. Jesus doesn't erase Peter's failure, but he does reframe it. The worst night of Peter's life becomes part of the foundation for who Peter becomes. Not the ending, but the refining. Now, your failure, it is part of your story, but it is not your whole story. Let me say that again. Your failure. It is part of your story, but it's not the whole story. And here's where this gets personal for a lot of us. Not just in how we see ourselves, but in how we treat other people.
[00:01:57] We often forgive people, but we keep them frozen. We say the words, but we quietly make sure they never get too close again. We keep them at arm's length, and we call it wisdom. But there's a question that's worth sitting with. Are you keeping them stuck? Are you creating space for them to grow? Trust doesn't rebuild in a vacuum. It rebuilds through action, through small opportunities given and honored. Trust is like a dimmer switch. It's not a light switch. It gets brighter over time as someone shows up consistently, but you have to give them room to grow into it. Now, that doesn't mean being reckless. It doesn't mean pretending the hurt didn't happen. It means making an intentional choice to offer the person a chance to step into something new, rather than locking them permanently in their worst moment. Because here's what I know. The same grace that rebuilt Peter is also available to you. Whatever you've done, whatever ground you feel like you've lost, Jesus isn't looking at your failure as the final word. He's looking at your calling. And he's saying there's still a place for you in what he's doing.
[00:02:59] So what about you? What's your next step? Two questions as we close out this week. First, is there someone you've been keeping frozen in their failure? What would it look like to give them something small to step into? Not everything, just something then? Secondly, are you letting your own failure define you? When Jesus is trying to refine you, what would it mean to receive that same grace today? Bridges. They are built one step at a time, and you've taken several this week. I want to encourage you to keep going. Jesus did not freeze Peter in his failure. He rebuilt his calling. That's what grace does. It doesn't just forgive, it restores. Let's live into that this weekend. Have a great day, and we'll see you back here soon.
[00:03:50] It.
