Success or Failure?
I’ve been creating a Review of FREEDOM TOUR 2018. Throughout the process I’ve felt this nagging question looming over my shoulder: Was it a success or a failure?
Crazy, isn’t it? A year-long project involved several hundred people in a complex effort to foster relationships and support kids rescued from the horrors of human trafficking, and I feel this silly urge to grade the whole thing PASS/FAIL.
We’re a transaction-based culture. So much of what we do is defined by this artificial binary notion of wins and losses. Current events certainly don’t help, as folks try to make their point and win the argument on social media with little consideration to nuance, middle ground, or who might be injured in the crossfire.
Life, as Jesus lived it, is not a zero-sum-game comprised of winners and losers. It’s about serving, taking risks, doing something about justice. That sort of effort isn’t PASS/FAIL, it’s a constant striving to do better, realizing the job’s never finished, trusting God for the outcome.
Was FREEDOM TOUR 2018 a success or a failure? Did we win, or lose? I don’t know…frankly, the question seems silly. Some things went really well, we could have done others much better. Lots of new friends and wonderful relationships, donated some funds, but too many people still living in slavery.
The world says the guy with the biggest house, most money, loudest microphone…that guy wins. The folks with the snappiest media, best strategy, deepest pockets…those folks win. Most likes, largest fundraising, greatest crowds. Power. Control. That’s what wins, what defines success.
And in the world’s terms, if you’re not a winner you’re a loser.
We can’t define ourselves and our work like that. We can’t divide ourselves up into winners and losers. We can’t pretend it’s a world of scarcity.
Well, we can do those things. But we’re not following Jesus.
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Check out our
FREEDOM TOUR 2018 Review
Maybe you’ll find your way to join the team.