Useful again
Paul sends for Mark
In one of his final letters, Paul makes a small request with a large backstory: get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. This is the same Mark who had abandoned Paul on an earlier journey — a failure so serious that Paul and Barnabas split over whether to give him a second chance. Years later, the once-deserter is now very useful, and Paul wants him close. The failure did not define Mark forever.
This is the long arc of restoration. Mark's early failure looked as though it might end his usefulness; Paul himself had written him off for a time. But people grow, change, and prove themselves over years, and the once-useless becomes useful again. For leaders this cuts two ways. Do not let your own past failure convince you that you are permanently useless — Mark was restored to usefulness. And do not permanently write off those who have failed — the deserter you gave up on may become very useful for ministry.
“Who once was useless to you, but now is useful to you and to me.”
— Paul, of Onesimus restored — Philemon 1:11 (WEB)
A past failure does not define a person forever. People grow and prove themselves over years, and the once-useless becomes useful again.
“Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.”
Paul, who once wrote Mark off, came to call him very useful. A leader formed here refuses to let past failure — his own or another’s — be the final word. The inner work is hope in the long arc of restoration.
Do not write people off permanently for past failures; watch for restored usefulness over time. Refuse to let your own failure convince you that you are done. Give the long arc of growth room to work.
Leaders permanently write off the failed and disqualify themselves over past mistakes. The blind spot is treating a failure as a final verdict on usefulness.
Identify someone you have written off, or a failure that has you feeling useless. This week, act on the hope that the once-useless can become useful again.
Mark abandoned Paul so seriously that Paul and Barnabas split over him — yet years later Paul calls him very useful and wants him close. The once-useless became useful again.
Whom have you written off for a past failure — or what failure has convinced you that you are useless — when the once-useless can become useful again?