How to Fail—in Four Simple Lessons

In this practical and warning-filled message, Chuck Swindoll uses the tragic “shipwreck” of the Israelites at Kadesh Barnea to teach believers how not to fail in their spiritual walk. Opening with the imagery of the Titanic and the Exxon Valdez, Swindoll connects these disasters to the spiritual shipwrecks mentioned by the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 1, warning that lives can run aground when warnings are ignored [13–18].

The sermon focuses on Numbers 13, where the Israelites stand on the very edge of the Promised Land. Twelve spies are sent to scout the land, returning with evidence of its abundance but also a report of “fortified cities” and “giants.” While Caleb and Joshua urge the people to trust God, the majority of the nation collapses into fear. Swindoll identifies four distinct lessons from this failure: fixing attention on obstacles rather than objectives, comparing oneself to others (leading to intimidation), allowing emotions to rule over reason, and choosing instant relief over character building [48–50, 57, 68, 77].

Swindoll emphasizes that the Israelites’ desire to return to Egypt—preferring the safety of slavery to the risk of faith—illustrates a universal human tendency to choose the familiar over the faithful. The message concludes with a challenge to reverse these fatal errors: to fix our eyes on the objective, refuse to compare ourselves to others, control our emotions, and prioritize the cultivation of character over the desire for comfort [67–68, 85–86].

Message Key Facts:

• The Spiritual Shipwreck: Swindoll defines a spiritual shipwreck by referencing 1 Timothy 1:19, where Paul mentions Hymenaeus and Alexander, who rejected faith and a good conscience. He notes that even the Apostle Paul lived with a healthy fear of becoming “disqualified” or shipwrecked after preaching to others (1 Corinthians 9:27) [17–21].
• Vulnerability Points: Quoting Charles Spurgeon, Swindoll points out that believers are most vulnerable to defeat at two specific times: just before something great is about to happen (when the enemy attacks to make us run), and just after a great victory (when we let our guard down) [34–37].
• Lesson 1: Obstacles vs. Objectives: The first step to failure is fixing attention on obstacles. Swindoll quotes a caption from a picture of a skier: “Obstacles are those frightening things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.” When the Israelites looked at the giants (obstacles), they lost sight of God’s promise (the objective).
• Lesson 2: The Grasshopper Complex: The second step to failure is comparison. Swindoll calls this the “Grasshopper Mentality” based on Numbers 13:33. He illustrates this with a story of his high school football team playing the giants of Odessa, Texas; because they felt like grasshoppers in their own minds, they were defeated before the game began [59–61].
• Lesson 3: Relief vs. Reality: The third step to failure is emotional reasoning. Swindoll notes that when panic sets in, people often desire “relief” so badly that they make irrational decisions, like the Israelites wishing to return to slavery in Egypt just because it was familiar and safe [68, 73–74].
• Lesson 4: Instant Gratification vs. Character: The final step to failure is choosing the quick way out. Swindoll argues that great accomplishments are never “easy, quick, and comfortable.” Failing to endure hardship leads to “instant relief” but destroys character.
• Caleb and Joshua: Unlike the other ten spies, Caleb and Joshua saw the same land but had a different perspective. Swindoll notes that while the majority saw reasons they couldn’t enter, these two focused on the size of their God rather than the size of the enemy.
• Marriage Application: Swindoll closes with a personal reflection on his marriage to Cynthia, noting that lasting relationships are built not on escaping when things get hard, but on “sticking it out” for the sake of character [87–88].

Message References:

• Numbers 13:1–33: The narrative of the twelve spies exploring Canaan, finding abundance, but bringing back a bad report regarding the “descendants of Anak” [3, 46–47].
• Numbers 14:1–4: The community’s reaction of weeping, grumbling, and plotting to appoint a new leader to take them back to Egypt [65–67].
• 1 Timothy 1:18–20: Paul’s charge to Timothy to fight the good fight and the mention of those who suffered “shipwreck” in regard to their faith [17–18].
• 1 Corinthians 9:26–27: Paul’s admission that he disciplines his body so that he will not become “disqualified” (or shipwrecked) [20–21].
• 1 Corinthians 10:1–13: A review of Israel’s history in the wilderness, noting that “these things happened as examples for us” so we would not crave evil things [29–33].
• Numbers 14:28–34: God’s judgment that the generation who grumbled would fall in the wilderness, wandering one year for every day the spies were in the land (40 years) [80–84].

Message Speaker:

Pastor Chuck Swindoll