Publications are one of the foundations of scientific work. You do something, write down your results, let other scientists from your field see, if it’s any good, and publish it in a journal, for all the world to read. And the more publications you have and the better they are, the higher you rank in the scientific community. So, writing a bad paper might not, immediately, damage you currier, but you wouldn’t do it on purpose either. Unfortunately, that leads to the problem, that no one talks about failed experiments. And if you cannot learn from other people’s mistakes, you might have to repeat them. Nobody knows for sure, but it is very likely, that a great number of experiments are repeated over and over again, because no one knows, that they don’t work. In some of these cases, a lot of money has to be used, in order to figure out, what another already knew. That all happens, because scientists want to represent their best self, instead of showing the true nature of their work. (Yes, it is a little bit harsh and my former professors might disagree with me. But there is a rising number of people, who want to see the bad published with the good. Right now, the system just doesn’t allow it.)

I recently read an article about teamwork. The authors claimed, that great teams show three distinct characteristics. Every member gives their best. Every member trusts every other member, that they can achieve their tasks. And, everybody is open and truthful about where they stand. (The text only claims, that all great teams do that. So, if you have a team, that starts to implement these behaviors, you might not necessarily become great. Or you might. Cause and effect are not clear here.) While I find the first two somewhat obvious, the third states something, I only had a vague feeling about. But it is so vital. And everybody, who worked with someone, who’s standard response is “consider it done,” knows, what I’m talking about. With these guys, you never know, where they stand. You are just left with the strange feeling, that they haven’t even started yet. Sometimes I am stuck. I know, I have to accomplish a certain goal, but the way there is somewhat fuzzy. In that case, it is useless to spread confidence. My coworkers will expect results any second now, when I don’t even know, how to produce them. They might plan their work, based on mine. But I leave them waiting. That is, why openness is such a big thing. Only, when I know, where you stand, I can plan my work or discover, where I can help you. So, I don’t know, if openness makes a good team, but I cannot picture a good team without it.

One of the common reactions to a suicide of someone you know, is, “why didn’t they say anything.” They might have. They probably did. I was in this situation way to often, and I always asked myself that question. But I also have to ask myself, if I even wanted to listen. Isn’t it easier, to be able to brush over the answer to “how are you?” Can’t we just assume, everything is good? When I look at my life in any given moment in time, I will find something, that is not good. Something bad. A relationship, finances, health. The list goes on and on. But, what is true for me, has to be false for everybody else. Otherwise, I have to suspect, they are not completely honest, when they answer ‘How are you?’ with ‘good’. (I admit, all to often, I am not honest.) But we live in a world, where we feel, as if we have to keep a great image for everyone to see. We wear the mask of a great life, that can only exist in our dreams.

Every Christian has an idea, of what the Christian life should look like. You read your Bible and pray every day. You go to church every Sunday, are part of a small group, and give your tithings. And, of course, you are blessed. I mean, Jesus loves you, how can your life be anything but blessed? I like to hold our ideas of a Christian life next to the life of Christ. (‘Christian’ means ‘little Christ’ after all.) Jesus did not read His Bible every day. He had non. He prayed every day, because He loved to, not, because He had to. As far as we know, He did not go to synagogue every week. He was not part of a small group in our sense either. (He shared His life with His 12 decibels, but in a way, we would really not like for our small groups. It would be way too close.) And He used a need trick, to get out of tithing. (Peter has to produce the money from the mouth of a fish.) Instead of keeping to a community of believers, He constantly went out with the worst of the worst. From the standards we find in church today, Jesus was the last one, who lived like a Christian should. But here we are, trying to reach a goal, not even Jesus was aiming for. And when He ended His earthly ministry to head back to His Father, He told His disciples (that is us now), to take the Good News into all the world. The Good News, that God has forgiven us. Jesus carried all the punishment for our wrongdoings. We are sinners, who are invited back into the throne room of God.

I don’t know, where the problem is (It feels like pride to me.), but we don’t like the good news. I mean, sure, we preach it, but all to often, we love to skip over the part of us, being awful sinners. Aren’t we saints? Aren’t we the good ones? The answer is, no, we are not. Instead of looking down on people and their problems, we should be more like a group of Alcoholics Anonymous. Hello, my name is Tobias, and I am a sinner. And, like in an AA meeting, nobody should be surprised by that. Because we all are. We even know that. And the sooner we acknowledge this, the sooner we can start, being there for each other. Oh, this is, what you struggle with. Now, I understand you so much better. And I have compassion for you. Here, let me help you with that. You know, I once was in a similar place, and I did, what you want to do. You know what, it turned out to be a terrible idea. It is way better to do this. We can start, sponsoring one another. And together, working as a team, we can come before the throne of the Father, who knows all our failures, forgave them and loves us, beyond our wildest dreams.