People Want to See You Fail

"I hope he fails."

Those were the words that Rush Limbaugh sent to the New York Times in January 2009 in response to a request the paper had sent out seeking comment about the upcoming inauguration of President Barack Obama.

Today's post isn't about politics, or who was right and who was wrong. It's about the fact that in the American culture (and presumably many others), we are all rubber-neckers.

We drive out of our way to track down the smoke billowing up into the sky. We will do a U-turn to go back and see the car crash a second (or third) time. If a storm passes through our area, we'll go view the tornado damage.

Why? Because we like to see disaster. We like to watch the train wreck. We like to see others fail.

I'm sure there is a psychological reason for this. It may have something to do with making ourselves feel better, because disaster didn't strike us. Even though I'm not certain on the reasons for it, we do like to see others fall flat on their face. It's like a blood sport.

As a leader, and especially as a ministry leader, we need to recognize that there are people in our world who desire to see us fail. In fact, the more successful we are, the more people will seek our failure.

That saddest reality is that some of those who hope we fail will also claim to be on the same side of the fence that we are. This is especially true in the ministry world.

Conduct a simple web search of the top names in Christianity, and you will find blogs from people who claim to be Christians, but their writings are full of hate toward the name you searched.

While it is a "heart" issue for the hater, as a leader we need to rise above the hate. It is our nature to fight back -- to account an eye for an eye.

When you look to the Bible for guidance, you see that Jesus instructs us to love those who hate us -- to turn the other cheek. Another way to look at this is that we should pray for our enemies, not engage them in their rethoric.

I believe that Jesus also modeled for us the method for dealing with critics. Jesus ignored them.

As a leader, you have an assigned purpose. That purpose may have been given by a board of directors, a leader above you, or by God himself. You must keep your focus on that mission, and not allow those who desire your failure to get the pleasure of witnessing it.