Failing Forward Online
Why Perfection is the Enemy of Presence
Recently, Checkpoint Church hit 100,000 subscribers on YouTube, and we got to celebrate—not just a milestone, but a movement. A community. A weird, wonderful experiment that’s still going.
At that gathering, we shared stories. We looked back. And, of course, we started throwing around wild ideas like, “Hey, what if we streamed every Nerdy Sermon we’ve ever made for charity?”
At first, we all laughed. But later, curiosity got hold of me.
We’ve made over 150 Nerdy Sermons. That much I knew. But multiplication was never my strong suit.
When I plugged the playlist into a time-length analyzer, it came back: over 36 hours of content. A charity stream would not be happening.
The number is wild enough on its own, but for me, the real realization was this: that body of work doesn’t exist because I got it perfect—it exists because I kept showing up.
No Weeks Off
Brady Shearer of Pro Church Tools has a rule for church communications: no weeks off.
If you're going to build something meaningful in digital ministry, you need to show up every single week. Rain or shine. Low views or high.
Why? Because consistency is credibility.
In a world where attention is currency, the Church must be known as present, not polished. As committed, not viral. As there—every time.
That’s why Nerdy Sermon #2 matters just as much as #150 because the Spirit can use an awkward upload just as much as a viral one.
No weeks off doesn’t mean burnout. It means resilience. It means you refuse to let perfection rob your presence. You set a goal and you stick with it. Then you trust that God is already at work—you need to press "Post."
A Great Digital Commission
We live in a world that idolizes perfection. But the Gospel doesn’t.
The Gospel tells us that God shows up in broken places. In mustard seeds. In stuttering prophets and doubting disciples. The Gospel is a story of people failing forward, not getting it right the first (or third) time.
Moses couldn’t speak clearly.
Jonah ran the other way.
Peter denied Jesus—three times.
And yet, they all showed up in the end.
What we’ve done through Checkpoint—the YouTube sermons, the Twitch streams, the prayers in Discord—none of it would exist if I waited until I had everything figured out.
And I’ll be honest: our early Nerdy Sermons? They’re hard to watch now. Cringe, even. But they matter. They were my loaves and fish. I brought what I had, and God multiplied it into something I never could’ve predicted.
Perfection is a moving target. But presence? Presence is faithfulness.
Jesus didn’t build the Kingdom by waiting until everything was polished. He stepped into the mess. Sat with sinners. Was born into obscurity and grew up in Nazareth—the kind of place people literally said, “Can anything good come from there?”
The Power of Showing Up
We showed up. Week after week. Sermon after sermon. Some of them were clunky. Some of them were deeply moving. Most were somewhere in between. And over time, a digital church formed. Not because it was perfect, but because it was present.
God doesn’t rejoice in your algorithm. God rejoices in your yes.
So if you’re out there, waiting until you’ve got better gear, or the right voice, or a clearer vision—consider this your call-out.
Do the thing.
Hit upload.
Post the awkward video.
Write the post you’re unsure about.
Stream to three people.
Celebrate the one comment.
Because it all matters.
You’re not called to be perfect.
You’re called to be present.
And presence changes everything.
Do It Like Nike
If you’re sitting on an idea—whether it’s a sermon, a podcast, a weird devotional series, a nerdy essay—this is your sign.
What have you already made but never released?
What’s been sitting in your drafts folder waiting on a perfect version of you to finish it?
What would it look like to just start?
Drop a comment and tell me about your “rough first thing.” Or better yet—share it. Post it. Let’s celebrate those mustard seed beginnings together.
God isn’t waiting for you to go viral.
God is rejoicing that you hit “publish.”
World 3-10 Complete
Q: What’s better than the perfect content?
A: The one you actually post.
I feel like this mantra presents one brushed up perfect looking aspect in itself I would gently like to push back on. - 150 uploads since the first uploaded sermon in fact part of reaching 100K was not always meeting "no weeks off" with respect to a particular kind of content. There is a balance with burnout (as owned by the article) to walk there I have felt important between reliable presence and the damage that can be done by turning this mindset from Intentionality into a toxic hustle. Just feels worth calling out, else as a lay member I have in the past had to be rocked by news of the cost and concealed struggle such a "cross to bear" may have. Doesn't invalidate the points above, but it's worth owning the two realities need to be held in tension and in tandem.
Do the thing.
Hit upload.
Post the awkward video.
Write the post you’re unsure about.
Stream to three people.
Celebrate the one comment.
I needed this. Thanks, Nathan.