Ever made a dumb mistake? Yeah, me, too.
I’ve always loved Megamind in the movie, who argued with Minion and finally concluded, “You were right. I was less right.”
We are sometimes less right, and we hope, like Minion, that someone will let us be more right.
I was a strong-willed child who spent my early years trying to do what I wanted to do. Strong-willed kids are like that. I was sure that no one could stand up to my will.
My mother opposed those wild ventures at every turn, so often that I remember asking her, “Why don’t you like me?”
“Oh, I like you all right,” she said. “I don’t like some of the stuff you do.”
For me, that was a second chance. All my shenanigans at least wouldn’t land me on the street. Mom hadn’t given up on me yet. There was still hope.
I think of that stubborn six-year-old when I think about Jonah.
He assumed God wouldn’t abandon him, either. God gave him second chances and he expected it. He did not expect second chances for those he thought unworthy. He knew he was worthy but others, well, he wasn’t convinced.
God, in pushing Jonah to go to Nineveh, was also pushing Jonah to grow in the idea of giving second chances.
Leaders resemble like Jonah sometimes. We like second chances in our own lives because we make mistakes. Others let us down? They’re out of here.
Why should a leader offer a second chance to someone who has either made a mistake or maybe willfully crossed a line?
Imperfect people can help.
Jonah is a great example. God can use imperfect people to accomplish impossible things.
In fact, a quick scan of the people in the Bible shows us that God used plenty of imperfect people. Some weren’t even trying to please God, and he still worked through them.
And he worked on them.
Jonah certainly didn’t climb on that boat to serve God. He wanted out of the assignment. But things didn’t go that simply.
God was going to teach about second chances: to the people of Nineveh, to the sailors on the boat, and to Jonah himself.
God uses imperfect people to accomplish great things and so should we. It’s good leadership.
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People can change.
That was probably the rub for Jonah: he had some idea this might be true. And he certainly didn’t want Nineveh to change. He had revenge in mind.
Leaders can’t forget that people change.
They don’t always, of course, but they can. And they do. Especially when others don’t give up on them.
This is one of the challenges of leadership. We might want to discard those who fall. We expect perfection – or at least a good try. Not everyone is up for that, at least not at first.
But given a second chance…. Well, it can work out pretty well sometimes.
Have you ever given someone a second chance that worked out well?
