Transparency - Part 1 — K.P. Yohannan

Peter’s Failure and the Lord’s Restoration

We all fail from time to time, and when it happens, discouragement and despair can easily set in. Today, on the Road to Reality, be encouraged by how the Lord deals with those that fail. The Bible is full of people that made mistakes and failed the Lord.

The Apostle Peter is just one of many examples. Today, on the Road to Reality, we'll take a look at a time in his life when he made a horrendous mistake, as well as be encouraged by how the Lord dealt with him.

In doing so, I think you'll find great encouragement for those inevitable times of failure in your own life. This is the broadcast ministry of Gospel for Asia, and we're glad to have you with us. Here's Gospel for Asia founder, Brother K .P. Yohannan, in John chapter 21.

Join with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 21, beginning with verse 15. If you read the previous verses, you'll find Peter, one of Christ's disciples, having denied the Lord three times, he is living with deep despair, total discouragement, and you can only imagine the rejection and the loneliness he is living with.

Adding to that his own internal anguish, he now decides to walk away from the ministry to which the Lord had called him. Never, never there should be any doubt on Peter's mind about the call of Christ on his life.

Christ’s Call and Peter’s Despair

Jesus himself said to him, come and follow me, and he left everything and followed him. Everything. But even the absolute assurance and knowledge of the call of Christ didn't help Peter from going into despair.

Now Judas also denied Christ, but he was driven to such extreme despair and hopelessness, he committed suicide. So he says, there's no hope left for me. I denied the Lord, I have committed the unpardonable sin, let me go back to my old business.

So he now picked up the net and the old boat and he's going back to his old business of fishing. Peter had such incredible influence on the other disciples. He was a spokesman, the rock, the bold, the strong, the man of faith who dared to walk on water.

The other disciples say, Peter, we are going with you also. If this is what you are doing, then what chance there is for us? I don't read anywhere, Peter says, you fellows don't understand, you don't understand.

I do this because I have no hope left in me. I failed. Now we read of the tremendous miracle that takes place in verse 15. Now Peter recognizing this is Jesus, the one who rose again from the dead that talked to him.

Now talking to Peter, when they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you truly love me more than these? Yes, Lord, he said, you know that I love you. Jesus said, feed my lambs.

Again, Jesus said, Simon, son of John, do you truly love me? He answered, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said, take care of my sheep. The third time he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, do you love me? He said, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said, feed my sheep. I do not believe there's anyone that hear my voice can honestly say they always live in the land of victory.

Always they are overcomers. They never get discouraged. They never get angry. They're always thinking thoughts that are positive and good and kind. You can add to that maybe a thousand other items. I don't think so.

We all have failed and we all do fail. I think the worst thing anyone can do to themselves that is more damning than anything else. Anything anyone can do to themselves that God himself cannot help them or feel deeply hurt about those individuals.

The Danger of Pretending and Hypocrisy

Are those individuals who finally come to the place of pretending something they are not. So to maintain their reputation, their honor and live up to what other people think about them. Now, this is the reason why when people hurt so deep, somebody asks, how are you doing?

They smile. The biggest smile in the world. Wonderful. Everything is great. Then they walk away with the same deep pain and hurt. In one of my travels, I happen to talk to a pastor. He's married and he has three children.

And during the conversation, he said a couple of statements that kind of made me feel like he's struggling. There's something about him that the joy is not there. He's trying to make up. And I kind of broke into the conversation.

I said, there's nobody here, just you and I. Tell me, what is bothering you? Is there something in your life that nobody knows about that you are hurting? And the man began to cry. Now, what surprises me, here is a man who is responsible for a few thousand people.

And then he said, I can't tell anyone this is my problem and I have no friends. And then he shared about something very intimate, very private, the struggle he's living with. He said, I repented so many times and struggled so many times.

And I just don't feel that I qualify to continue in the ministry. I just don't know what to do. I talked to him and encouraged him. And I think he found some hope when he realized that he was not alone in the struggle.

Some years ago, speaking to a group of young people, I mentioned about some of the struggles I go through in my life. And I never forget, a couple of young people come in and tell me, we never imagined, can't even imagine that you have these kind of struggles in your life.

I said, you must be joking. I'm a normal, healthy human being with problems and difficulties and temptations and all kinds of struggles. You see, our life is like children entering for their studies. You know, they are in the first grade or second grade or third grade or fourth grade.

They learn mathematics. They learn to add and subtract. They deal with the same numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and all like that. And they go through their test or exam and they pass. They go to the next class and all like that.

But a few years later, they are now dealing with calculus. It is unimaginable for a third grader or a fourth grader or a fifth grader trying to sort this out. But if these youngsters start pretending, just by mimicking and memorizing some parts of the calculus, can say the right words and make people believe that he is a genius.

People who hear that, youngsters walk away. Wow, I can't believe this kid can do all this and know so much. The truth of the matter remains, it will be many years before he will come to the place of such knowledge with comprehension and understanding.

But who hurt his own growth, his pretense? My brothers and sisters, no matter where we are in our life, the safest road to becoming authentic and having God's approval on our life and His blessings on us and God using us to bless others, the safest road is to walk with transparency and openness and no cover-up, no hypocrisy.

Brother K .P. Yohanan encouraging us to get on the road to reality and we'll hear the second half of K .P.'s message, Transparency, in just a moment. Our 2008 Gospel for Asia calendars are available. This year's calendar features the faces of Asia, representing the more than one billion lost people in the most unreached area of the world.

In addition to beautiful photos from the mission field, you'll find compelling stories, reports, and prayer requests from the people of Asia. You can order the Gospel for Asia 2008 calendar through our website, winasia .org, that's winasia .org, or call 866-WIN-ASIA, that's 866-WIN-ASIA.

Once again, here's Brother K .P.

Christ’s Compassion for the Sinful and His Rebuke of Hypocrisy

As you read the Gospels, you will never find Christ speaking such harsh words, the prostitutes, the drunkards, and the worst in the society. He never did that. You know the story about this woman being brought before Christ, who was caught in the act of adultery.

The law says she must be stoned to death. But Jesus looks upon her with such love and compassion. Not one word she hears from Christ condemning her. Her dignity never marred. But, Jesus talks to the Pharisees who knew, these people knew the Scriptures, they made themselves appear to be so spiritual, they pray so many times, they fast, they make their face look so sad and gloomy and donkey-faced, and somebody asks, why you look like that?

Oh, I've just been fasting for the last 25 days. Oh, now I understand why you look so tired. You are so spiritual. And Jesus said, you are snakes. You are whitewashed tombs outside, nice and clean, inside it is rotten and stinking.

You will never make it to heaven. Your father is a devil. Wow! You talk about preachers, here is a hard preacher. But these Pharisees who pretended, hypocrites, acting a role. It's like in the movies, this gentle, skinny little fellow, now he's a police inspector, he's an army commander.

Well, in the movies it works, but let him go out and try to do that. That will be the end of his life and his career. No, it don't work. In Christendom, if you are not careful, now I talk to you as an individual, you in your own world and in my own world, we can begin to pretend.

The reality is different. There are people who talk about prayer, you know, how willing to pray and wait upon God by the time you hear this incredible speech, you think, wow, this man must know God, he must be praying 10 hours a day and this and that, the whole thing.

This guy don't even pray even for one minute. But he's expert in projecting about prayer life and people think something that he is not. In all areas of life, we need to be careful like that. Now, I thank God for this example which becomes such tremendous encouragement for me.

Peter’s Honesty and God’s Pursuit of the Failing

That is Peter, who made such horrendous mistake. He not only could not live with himself because of his rejection and his feeling of such utter lostness because of his failure. He says, I can handle it, so he walks away.

He could have pretended, said, oh yeah, you know what, I was going to lose my head, you know, in my heart I really love the Lord. Yeah, I was caught in this horrible mess, what I was supposed to do? The Lord understand.

No, he wept bitterly, honesty. And now he is going back to the old business. When Jesus rose again from the dead, if you remember, Jesus said, you know what, you go and tell my disciples I am risen. Two more words he added, and Peter, amazing.

There's John, there's Thomas, there's Matthew and all these disciples. But then he picks out one name and single him out. And Peter, don't forget to tell him. Him being God, he knew exactly what was going on in Peter's heart.

He knew exactly how he failed so miserably. He knew exactly what Peter is going through. By the way, the Lord knows you also. The Lord knows that very private sin and struggle that you live with. He knows the number of times you repented in agony and with such tears saying, I will never do it again.

He knows he failed again. Nobody ever discovered, no one ever discovered. They may never will, but the Lord knows what you have done. Nothing, nothing is hidden before his eyes. But this is the most beautiful thing.

He not only knows me and knows you, but he says, and so and so, and so and so. This mother gave birth to four children. Three of them are healthy and normal. And one is sickly and weak. Majority of the attention the mother now gives to this weak and the failing one.

They will try to tell us continually, God is angry with you. There's no way you're going to make it heaven. You lost your salvation. Yeah, keep pretending, but your God is not on your side. Why you pray like this?

It has no meaning. He will never hear your prayer. You sinned so much and on and on and on. He being the deceiver, just as he did with Eve. He comes and talks to us to make us question the goodness of God.

Please understand, your father loves you. He knows you. To Jeremiah, he said, before you were formed in your mother's womb, I knew you. He knows everything about us. But he loves us so much with all the failures and misery and tragedies.

His love never changes. He waits and watch. But we will make our own decision to come back to him because he can't force us. Question is, what must be my attitude to those that fail? In the book of Galatians, we read the scripture says, Those who are spiritual among you, restore those that are weak and failing.

John, the beloved disciple writing in 1 John 2 verse 6. Whoever claims to live in him, must walk as Jesus did. In the living Bible says, anyone who says he is a Christian should live as Christ did. Then, this beautiful verse in the book of Peter, 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 21.

To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. Jesus suffered, leaving this example that I must follow in his footsteps. What are we talking about?

This is not the cross, the nail, the blood and the anguish that Christ faced. No. This is talking about lifelong he suffered in his relationship with others. How? The way he responded to those who mistreated him, accused him, abused him, spat on his face, misunderstood him, called him all kind of evil names, suffering, the choice he made.

So if I must represent Christ now in my life, in my generation, with people that I live with, representing him, I must choose to walk in his footsteps. The passage we read in the gospel of John chapter 21 is a classic example of the way the Lord deals with those that fail.

How much he suffered when Peter so blatantly said, I don't know him. Then he started using curse words. When you are rejected by anyone, it causes much pain. When you are rejected by someone that you are so close to, how much more we suffer.

Cooperating with God to Restore Those Who Fail

What must be my attitude? A couple of years ago, I went through this struggle. I was dealing with one individual that really was creating a lot of problems. I counseled him and talked to him and all kind of things, but nothing seems to work.

In the end, I decided the best thing to do is to let him go. He couldn't work with us anymore. I remember coming home and talking to my wife about it. She heard all what I had to say, then she said, I wonder if this is what the Lord wanted to do.

I said, what do you mean? Didn't I tell you all what happened? She said, I know. Then she said this most incredible statement that I wrote it down as a quote that I use once in a while in my Bible. The Lord never want anyone to fail.

He want them to succeed. To the last second of their life, the Lord is fighting for them to succeed. We must cooperate with God for them to succeed.

Cooperating with God to help them succeed. That's the way to help those who have failed. Our attitude towards those that fail needs to be the same as Christ. Brother K .P. Yohannan has just shared a personal experience in which he learned that valuable lesson here on the Road to Reality, the Ministry of Gospel for Asia.

Maybe like Peter, you've failed the Lord here recently. We hope you found today's study encouraging and that it has served to help you see God's redemptive plan and power for your life. K .P. also has written a booklet on the subject and we'd like to offer that to you today.

It's called, When We Have Failed, What Next? It's just $3 through our website, which is found at winasia .org. As the name of the booklet suggests, this will serve to help you with what to do after your failures and help you get back on track.

Again, go to winasia .org to get a copy today or give us a call, toll free, 866-WIN-ASIA. As I mentioned at the mid-break, our 2008 Gospel for Asia calendars are ready to go. Order as many as you like at winasia .org.

Oh, by the way, you can even get a glimpse of the calendar at our website and see what you'll be receiving. Again, at winasia .org or call 866-WIN-ASIA. The Road to Reality with K .P. Yohannan is brought to you by Gospel for Asia.

May God richly bless you. Brother K .P. Yohannan encouraging us to get on the road to reality and we'll hear the second half of K .P.'s message, Transparency, in just a moment. Our 2008 Gospel for Asia calendars are available.

This year's calendar features the faces of Asia representing the more than one billion lost people in the most unreached area of the world. In addition to beautiful photos from the mission field, you'll find compelling stories, reports, and prayer requests from the people of Asia.

You can order the Gospel for Asia 2008 calendar through our website, winasia .org. That's winasia .org. Or call 866-WIN-ASIA. That's 866-WIN-ASIA. Once again, here's Brother K .P.

Christ’s Compassion and the Call to Authenticity

As you read the Gospels, you will never find Christ speaking such harsh words to prostitutes, the drunkards, and the worst in the society. He never did that. You know the story about this woman being brought before Christ who was caught in the act of adultery.

The law says she must be stoned to death. But Jesus looks upon her with such love and compassion. Not one word she hears from Christ condemning her. Her dignity never marred. But Jesus talks to the Pharisees who knew, these people knew the Scriptures.

They made themselves appear to be so spiritual. They pray so many times. They fast. They make their face look so sad and gloomy and donkey faced. And somebody asked, why you look like that? Oh, I just been fasting for the last 25 days.

Oh, now I understand why you look so tired. You are so spiritual. And Jesus said, you are snakes. You are whitewashed tombs outside. Nice and clean inside. It is rotten and stinking. You will never make it to heaven.

Your father is a devil. Wow! You talk about preachers. Here is a hard preacher. But these Pharisees who pretended hypocrites acting a role. It's like in the movies. This gentle, skinny little fellow now is a police inspector.

Army commander. Well, in the movies it works. But let him go out and try to do that. That will be the end of his life and his career. No, it don't work. In Christendom, if you are not careful, now I talk to you as an individual.

You in your own world and in my own world we can begin to pretend. The reality is different. There are people who talks about prayer. You know, how willing to pray and wait upon God. By the time you hear this incredible speech you think, wow, this man must know God.

He must be praying ten hours a day and this and that, the whole thing. This guy don't even pray even for one minute. But he is expert in projecting about prayer life. And people think something that he is not.

In all areas of life we need to be careful like that. Now, I thank God for this example which becomes such tremendous encouragement for me. That is Peter who made such horrendous mistake. He not only could not live with himself because of his rejection and his feeling of such utter lostness because of his failure.

God Knows the Failing and Calls Them Back

He says, I can handle it. So he walks away. He could have pretended. Said, oh yeah, you know what, I was going to lose my head. You know, in my heart I really love the Lord. Yeah, I was caught in this horrible mess.

What I was supposed to do? The Lord understand. No. He wept bitterly. Honesty. And now he is going back to the old business. When Jesus rose again from the dead. If you remember, Jesus said, you know what, you go and tell my disciples I am risen.

Two more words he added. And Peter. Amazing. There is John. There is Thomas. There is Matthew. And all these disciples. But then he picks out one name and single him out. And Peter. Don't forget to tell him.

Him being God, he knew exactly what was going on in Peter's heart. He knew exactly how he failed so miserably. He knew exactly what Peter is going through. By the way, the Lord knows you also. The Lord knows that very private sin and struggle that you live with.

He knows the number of times you repented in agony and with such tears saying I will never do it again. He knows you failed again. Nobody ever discovered. No one ever discovered. They may never will. But the Lord knows what you have done.

Nothing. Nothing is hidden before his eyes. But this is the most beautiful thing. He not only knows me and knows you. But he says and so and so. And so and so. This mother gave birth to four children.

Three of them are healthy and normal. And one is sickly and weak. Majority of the attention the mother now gives to this weak and the failing one. They will try to tell us continually God is angry with you.

There is no way you are going to make it heaven. You lost your salvation. Yeah. Keep pretending but God is not on your side. Why you pray like this? It has no meaning. He will never hear your prayer. You sinned so much.

And on and on and on. He being the deceiver just as he did with Eve. He comes and talks to us to make us question the goodness of God. Please understand. Your father loves you. He knows you. To Jeremiah he said before you were formed in your mother's womb I knew you.

He knows everything about us. But he loves us so much with all the failures and misery and tragedies. His love never changes. He waits and watch that we will make our own decision to come back to him because he can't force us.

Following Christ’s Example Toward Those Who Fail

Question is what must be my attitude to those that fail? In the book of Galatians we read the scripture says those who are spiritual among you restore those that are weak and failing. John the beloved disciple writing in 1 John chapter 2 verse 6 whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

In the living bible says anyone who says he's a Christian should live as Christ did. Then this beautiful verse in the book of Peter 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 21 to this you were called because Christ suffered for you leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps.

Jesus suffered leaving this example that I must follow in his footsteps. What are we talking about? This is not the cross, the nail, the blood and the anguish that Christ faced. No, this is talking about life long he suffered in his relationship with others.

How? The way he responded to those who mistreated him, accused him, abused him, spat on his face, misunderstood him, called him all kind of evil names. Suffering the choice he made. So if I must represent Christ now in my life, in my generation, with people that are livid representing him I must choose to walk in his footsteps.

The passage you read in the gospel of John chapter 21 is a classic example of the way the Lord deals with those that fail. How much he suffered when Peter so blatantly said, I don't know him. Then he started using curse words.

When you are rejected by anyone it causes much pain. When you are rejected by someone that you are so close to, how much more we suffer. What must be my attitude? A couple of years ago I went through this struggle.

I was dealing with one individual that really was creating a lot of problems. I counseled him and talked to him and all kind of things but nothing seems to work. In the end, I decided the best thing to do is to let him go.

He couldn't work with us anymore. I remember coming home and talking to my wife about it. She heard all what I had to say and then she said, I wonder if this is what the Lord wanted to do. I said, what do you mean?

I mean, didn't I tell you all what happened? She said, I know. Then she said this incredible statement that I wrote it down as a quote that I use once in a while in my Bible. The Lord never want anyone to fail.

He want them to succeed. To the last second.

Helping the Failed to Succeed

Of their life, the Lord is fighting for them to succeed. We must cooperate with God for them to succeed. Cooperating with God to help them succeed. That's the way to help those who have failed. Our attitude towards those that fail needs to be the same as Christ.

Brother KP Yohanan has just shared a personal experience in which he learned that valuable lesson here on the road to reality. The Ministry of Gospel for Asia. Maybe like Peter, you've failed the Lord here recently.

We hope you found today's study encouraging and that it has served to help you see God's redemptive plan and power for your life. KP also has written a booklet on the subject and we'd like to offer that to you today.

It's called When We Have Failed, What Next? It's just three dollars through our website which is found at winasia .org. As the name of the booklet suggests, this will serve to help you with what to do after your failures and help you get back on track.

Again, go to winasia .org to get a copy today or give us a call toll-free 866-WIN-ASIA. As I mentioned at the mid-break, our 2008 Gospel for Asia calendars are ready to go. Order as many as you like at winasia .org.

Oh, by the way, you can even get a glimpse of the calendar at our website and see what you'll be receiving. Again, at winasia .org or call 866-WIN-ASIA. The Rogue Reality with KP O 'Hannon is brought to you by Gospel for Asia.

May God richly bless you.