Time to share a new song!
I’m not sure if I heard someone first use the phrase or if it just came to me one day. But the idea of “failing forward” has become an important part of how I view my walk with Christ. This is a balanced approach instead of doing what many Christians do – tend towards extremes.
Some see their love walk with God as a mission, a goal to be attained and an end to be reached. Did my daily bible reading – check. Prayed for at least 15 minutes – check. Didn’t cuss, drink, smoke or have gay sex – check. Now what’s on TV? The problem with task-oriented Christianity is that Christianity, by nature, is not a task. Its a relationship. Spouses who treat their significant others as items on a to-do list have marriage problems. Similarly, Christians who treat their walk with God as a daily objective won’t ever get as close to Him as their hearts desire. Its not what’s He’s asking for and they’ll never be happy because they’ll always fall short of the self-imposed chores they’ve created.
Which brings us to our next extreme: the spiritually lazy. These folks have realized that they will never be able to keep the list of rules needed to be a “good Christian” so they quit. I’ve heard this sometimes referred to as “greasy grace” where someone just does what they want and just assumes the “grace” of God will cover it. Of course what they really are counting on is mercy, not grace, but its an unbiblical mercy. They have learned to not be task oriented (that’s good) but instead they are content with no spiritual growth (that’s bad).
Instead of these two extremes, I believe God is calling us to live a life “failing forward.” With this mentality, the Christian understands that they can never please God with a check list and knows they will make mistakes. However, instead of wallowing in their shortcomings, they choose to embrace the love relationship Jesus provided (thru scriptural grace) and continue moving forward through their shortcomings. This way the objective is not perfection, but movement in the right direction. This is what will bring true growth.
So I wrote a song about it! Music and lyrics are below. It’s just a rough home demo so don’t expect the quality of my EP or anything. I hope it ministers to you!
Failing Forward
//
It’s OK to not be OK
It’s all right to not be all right
Your father knows your frame is dust
So now He’s asking you to trust
//
Jesus sees us
As we are in Him, covered by His blood
Jesus meets us
Right where we are, offering His love
And His grace is our reward
As we run to Him failing forward
//
Don’t count your sins, repent and then forget them
Come on, get back up and don’t lose your momentum
‘Cause God’s not shocked and does not get worried
He already knows you fall short of His glory
//
It’s a process that I’ll never quite complete
But still I seek His holiness in me
And if I fall I’ll crawl until I’m on my feet
Because there’s only one direction toward only One I need:
Forward, failing forward
Have You Accepted Cheeses As Your Personal Flavor? 
Excellent post sir. I feel like I sway between those two extremes quite often. It’s difficult to be content knowing you can’t be perfect. But, it sure is a journey and I get to experience new revelations of His love constantly. Much love Jamie!