Fail - by J R Briggs (Paperback)

About the Book

What do we do when we've failed? J.R. Briggs, founder of the Epic Fail Pastors Conference, explores the landscape of failure, how it devastates us and how it transforms us. Without offering pat answers or quick fixes, he challenges our expectations of success and gives us permission to grieve our losses and receive the grace of healing and restoration.

Book Synopsis

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"I thought God had called me to plant this church. Why did we have to shut our doors after only three years?"

"I was at my breaking point. Then I got the news that our nine-year-old daughter had leukemia. I would have quit ministry forever, but I had no other employable skills."

"False accusations were made against me and my family, wrecking our reputation permanently and forcing us to leave not only the church, but move out of the area."

"I've served my church for the past 27 years and I've grown that church from 150 to 24 people."

What do we do when we've failed? Some ministries are shipwrecked by moral failures like affairs or embezzlement. But for most of us, the sense of failure is more ordinary: disillusionment, inadequacy, declining budgets, poor decisions, opposition, depression, burnout. Many pastors are deeply broken and wounded, and we come to doubt that God has any use for us.

J.R. Briggs, founder of the Epic Fail Pastors Conference, knows what failure feels like. He has listened to pastors who were busted in a prostitution sting or found themselves homeless when ejected from ministry. With candid vulnerability, Briggs explores the landscape of failure, how it devastates us and how it transforms us. Without offering pat answers or quick fixes, he challenges our cultural expectations of success and gives us permission to grieve our losses. Somehow, in the midst of our pain, we are better positioned to receive the grace of healing and restoration.

Review Quotes

"Fail is like a barn for a tired, overburdened mule. That mule is us: preachers, pastors, leaders in the church. The wonderful gift we are given here is a re-yoking, where we come into that barn and have our yokes removed--which are of impossible weight to carry and manage--and slip into the yoke of Jesus, who carries all the burden of ministry and lets us join him, side by side, on the journey."

Lance Ford, author of UnLeader and coauthor of The Missional Quest

"Fear of failure is a power that holds many church leaders in a death grip. In this important book, J.R. Briggs boldly speaks from his own experience and that of others, reminding us that failure is inevitable, but the crucial question is how we find grace and eventually recovery in the aftermath of failure. The gospel that we encounter in Fail is undoubtedly good news, true liberation for our fearful, weary and broken selves. May we heed its call!"

C. Christopher Smith, coauthor, Slow Church, and founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books

"Here is a theology of failure to go with Jesus' sacrament of failure ('shake the dust off your feet and move on'). Find out why the best fail the most, and how the 'great cloud of witnesses' in Hebrews 11 is a cumulonimbus cloud haloing a rogues' gallery. Briggs's solution to a failure of nerve--the nerve of failure--deserves wide reading."

Leonard Sweet, bestselling author; professor, Drew University, George Fox University; chief contributor to sermons.com

"If you are struggling in ministry, this book will be like sitting down with a good friend who knows and understands what you are enduring. No quick fixes. No pat answers. No formulas. No judgment. Just gentle wisdom laced with grace to help you continue in God's calling."

Ruth Graham, author of In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart

"In Fail J.R. Briggs succeeds in shining a light on an often taboo subject in modern-day ministry. Through the lens of the gospel, Briggs provides a vision to see failure as an invitation to grow in the grace and knowledge of God. If you are a minister, a former pastor, a fallen pastor or a struggling believer, Fail will encourage, strengthen and instruct you in the freedom offered at the cross. For 'by his wounds, we are healed.'"

Ed Stetzer, author, Subversive Kingdom

"J.R. Briggs captures the struggle of pastors in his new book Fail. The fear of failure is enough to freeze us in our path to ministry. J.R. not only shows the facts as to how this is affecting ministers across every denomination but alsopoints toward solutions for pastors to find their way out in the midst of failure. Pastors often find themselves incapable, inadequate and even incompetent in the task that God has placed before them. J.R. reminds them that the only hope they have to complete the mission God has placed on their calling is to rely on the Holy Spirit."

Maurice Graham, executive director, Shepherd's Staff Ministry, Inc.

"J.R. Briggs goes beyond giving us a robust theology of failure; he opens his veins and shares his life. He calls us to be faithful not efficient, to live vulnerably without shame. He gives us grace-filled opportunities to be our true selves. If you are a pastor, you need this book!"

JR Woodward, national director of church planting for V3, author of Creating a Missional Culture

"J.R. Briggs has something to say to pastors about our American obsession with 'success.' He holds to the Jesus-endorsed notion that those in ministry are called to faithfulness, not success, and that sometimes faithfulness takes the peculiar form of failure. Fail dares to tell the truth and will bring much-needed clarity and comfort to a multitude of ministers who, though faithful, have drunk from the bitter cup of failure."

Brian Zahnd, pastor, Word of Life Church, St. Joseph, Missouri; author, A Farewell To Mars

"J.R. Briggs offers a sobering look at the pain, loneliness and shame we pastors regularly face. Like the apostle Paul, he understands that the best ministry happens when we allow it to flow through our own weakness and failure. Reading this book was like 'a kiss from God on my bruises.'"

Aaron Graham, lead pastor, The District Church, Washington D.C.

"Someone needed to write a book that would cast vision for the transformational possibilities contained within experiences of failure. J.R. Briggs has done just that! In a voice that is honest, winsome and hopeful, he offers hard-won wisdom for leaning into God's gracious purposes even in the most painful experiences leaders face. Thanks be to God!"

Ruth Haley Barton, founder of the Transforming Center and author of Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership

About the Author

Eugene H. Peterson (1932-2018) was a pastor, scholar, author, and poet. He wrote more than thirty books, including his widely acclaimed paraphrase of the Bible, The Message; his memoir, The Pastor; and numerous works of biblicalspiritual formation, including Run with the Horses and Traveling Light.

J.R. Briggs (DMin, Missio Seminary) is the founder of Kairos Partnerships, an organization committed to serving hungry leaders through coaching, consulting, and speaking. He serves on staff with the Ecclesia Network and Fresh Expressions, and as guest instructor for Friends University in the Masters of Spiritual Formation and Leadership program. His books include The Sacred Overlap, Fail, and Eldership and the Mission of God. He and his wife and two children live inthe greater Philadelphia area.