Weakness or reality?

Boasting in our weakness (2 Cor 12:9,10) and being called to walk in weakness - i.e. in humility - is a bit of a paradox. Normally boasting and humility are opposites; a seeming contradiction. 

We see other examples of this paradox in the following... "to live you must die"... "to find your life you must lose it." Don't we normally boast in our strengths, not our weakness? 

So what does this mean? In a sense, it is a play on words. Weakness is really nothing more than simply recognizing the reality of our dependence i.e. seeing ourselves according to the truth that we are dependent creatures, not self sustaining gods. It is not really weakness in the commonly understood sense. It is operating according to the reality of who we are as finite beings dependent on our Infinite Creator. 

This is another way of saying we are not our own god - the opposite of the lie Adam and Eve bought into. The necessary recognition of this reality (our dependence) is actually the basis for our true strength and flourishing because it is grounded in the reality of our true nature and design as creatures.

It only ²seems like weakness to us if and when we are committed to being our "own god" ...being our own god is not actually possible because this ultimately leads to eternal death and separation from the only true God.

"Weakness" is only being who we were designed to be and really are - finite creatures created in God's image - totally dependent on our Creator and his love to operate fully as God intended and designed us to. When we recognize this "weakness" we are strong in our dependence on God and the power He gives in and through His love/Spirit.

This is not alien to who we really are - who we were created to be - but only to who we choose to be i.e. our own god. Therefore, we are actually strong in God only when we are weak in ourselves. 

"...Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing... 

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love..." - John 15:5b and 9

These are Jesus own words in the upper room shortly before his betrayal and upcoming crucifixion (the completion of his own humiliation and ultimate experience of weakness on our behalf). 

This type of "weakness" recognizes all life, love, meaning, and purpose is from God alone, not ourselves, and to living accordingly. 

We were never designed to be our own god; to operate independently of God and outside of his infinite, boundless love. To attempt doing so leads to death, just as God warned. 

To live in this way (as totally independent) only gives the appearance of power. And it often does feel powerful but only for a season because it is not power rooted in the reality that from, through, and to God - not us -  are all things. Trying to be our own god is short term power rooted in the lie that we can be i.e. we are the source of power and God isn't.  

To live according to truth, the way we were designed to live, is to live fully and truly. It is not weakness, it is true power, it is fullness of life; abundant life. It is being loved with nothing less than the infinite, eternal love and joy that flows between the Father and the Son, via the Spirit; the very essence of the life of God.

We are only to be weak "in the flesh" i.e. in our attempts to garner the approval of God and man by our efforts. 

However, we are to be strong "in the Spirit" i.e. in actions driven by the Spirit and Love of God. In and by so doing we bear much fruit for his glory. 

Joh 17:3  And this is eternal life, that they ¹know you (the Father) the only true God, and (I) Jesus Christ whom you have sent. - 

Jesus talking to his Father right before he was betrayed by Judas Iscariot.

For a further discussion on the difference between operating "in the flesh" vs "in the Spirit" see the following... 

Defining terms: the flesh, the Spirit, living in and by the Spirit, living under or by the law etc

Starting in the Spirit, ending in the flesh. 

"performance" or action by faith

The above was inspired by "Way of the Dragon or The Way of the Lamb" page 13. by Jamin Goggin and Kyle Stroble. 

To download the intro and chapter 1 from the book click here and "get a free chapter" on the bottom right. 

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¹know: ginōskō - Thayer Definition:

1) to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel

1a) to become known

2) to know, understand, perceive, have knowledge of

2a) to understand

2b) to know

3) Jewish idiom for sexual intercourse (i.e. intimate knowledge through first hand experience- my comment) between a man and a woman

4) to become acquainted with, to know

² seems like weakness... I would add it also feels like weakness. Whenever we are required to depend on someone else this feels weak. The real issue however is it requires trust and humility when distrust and arrogance is the heart of our problem. We don't want or like to trust. We like being our own god. Yet being finite requires we trust and if we are wise we trust Him who alone knows all things and loves us infinitely. 

 

We prefer to follow in the footsteps and example of Adam. The is bound up in the very core of our being. However when you consider we are dependent creatures, it is in reality simply acting as we were created to act i.e. as finite creatures created in the image of the infinite Creator.

Christ's suffering reveals the heart of God.

Christ's Suffering shows the true heart and full nature of God i.e., the kind of being He is.

And what kind of being is that? He is not only the Almighty Lion, but He is also the lowly, meek Lamb who gave himself up to be slaughtered. Though being a sacrificial Lamb was only a short-term condition (with long-term effect), for God to be able to enter into and embrace that condition reveals His full nature. In other words, what moved him to take on human form and become the Lamb of God is still a vital, ongoing part of who His is. He is meek and lowly at heart. 

If you want to understand what true power looks like, look at the cross, i.e., the full spectrum of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. True power is power to overcome evil and death by fully embracing it first, then overcoming it and using it for good.

There is no, overcoming, conquering, and resurrection without suffering, pain, and death.

The greatness and power of God were best displayed in Christ's suffering and willingly and deliberately submitting to it. He allowed Himself to be fully conquered and broken by others infinitely less powerful than Him. Then He raised Himself back to life and exalted to the highest position of glory, honor, and authority by His Father. Life and honor came through death and shame.

“Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a ¹cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” - Phil 2:5-11 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/php.2.5-11.ESV

Now He extends to us, who bear His image, the offer of that same resurrected life, i.e., a non-stop eternal life of bliss and delight, forever free from pain, suffering, and death. Bliss and delight are intensified through relief from pain, suffering, and death. The greater our suffering, the greater our joy and delight in its relief.

The irony is this process was 1st initiated by the Almighty Creator and Sustainer of all things. God doesn't ask anything of us that He didn't Himself go through 1st - and to an infinitely greater degree than we ever have or will.

The nature of this power to overcome suffering and death (i.e., resurrection) not only has real-world application for us in the face of our present pain and suffering. But it also reveals something very significant about God as a being.

The greatest demonstration of power is the power to humble oneself. God, the greatest, most significant, and valuable being of all, did this so He could restore the powerless, the broken, and the helpless, i.e He gave those who can not restore themselves His resurrected life.

The way God restored the broken and helpless was by submitting Himself to being broken and helpless. The Almighty Creator submitted Himself to total weakness and loss so we would not have to; i.e., in order for us to be delivered from weakness and loss, He fully submitted to this Himself. 

If we are in Christ and He is in us, His doing this for us becomes the means and motivation (power) by which we can do this (live sacrificially) for others.

How does God minister to us through our suffering? In and through His own. His suffering enables him to restore and minister to us in our suffering. His weakness empowers him to sympathize with ours and more effectively minister to us in our weakness.

The ultimate triumph (power) over evil is when evil happens, God is still in control and uses it for good.

“this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless (ἀνόμων - without law, wicked) men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. ” - From Peters message to those present after the Spirit had descended on His followers at Pentecost - Acts 2:23-24 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/act.2.23-24.ESV

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¹Crucifixion was the most humiliating form of death at that time. 

²We fully appreciate the resurrection and subsequent bliss of Heaven when it is contrasted with the shadow of death i.e., the darkness cast over us at a loved one's passing away.

When we are fully glorified, Heaven is where the shadow of death, decay, and corruption will no longer exist.

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” - Rev 21:1, 4 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/rev.21.1-4.ESV

As His children, whatever loss we experience in this life is ultimately for our gain in the next i.e., because of what Christ did for us, we can never lose as God's children, no matter what we go through.

We may experience great loss and pain in this life, but we can never experience complete and ultimate loss as God's children, but only total victory, because Christ achieved this first by coming back to life. Death does not have the last word; life does!

For a fuller discussion on participating in the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, click here. 

denial of dependence

Our problem isn't weakness/dependence, it is the denial of it. We are in fact, dependent and finite creatures. And because we deny this we miss out on the fullness of life available only in being dependent on and reconnected to the infinite source of life. 

Joh 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

Joh 17:2  And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 

The world being in bondage, with all the pain and suffering that comes with it, is - in a roundabout way - actually a blessing. It is a stark remember we were never designed to live independent of God - i.e. to be our own god. Therefore, it can be the means of our turning back to him. How many have turned to Christ in a moment of great pain?

But only if we acknowledge our need for God first and relinquish our commitment to being our own god, does it become a blessing. Otherwise, it is a curse. 

"... in weakness and vulnerability we are trusting in Christ and his strength, so what we think of as weakness is from a worldly point of view. In actuality, it is a means of real power. In the words of Bonhoeffer, “What may appear weak and trifling to us may be great and glorious to God.” The Way of the Dragon and The Way of the Lamb. Pg 115

seeking comfort

Seeking comfort-pleasure is merely the flip side of avoiding pain. This is a clue that pain is the true underlying state of our present condition.

Why are we drawn to comfort? Through it, we gain a sense of importance - significance - value. To not have a sense of these is ¹painful.

We are also drawn to anything that gives comfort because it makes us feel we have control over our pain. And to some degree we do, but only temporarily.

We prefer control and resist dependence with everything that is in us. We don't like trusting and, depending on anything we don't control. Dependence gives us a feeling of weakness. We don't like being weak. We avoid anything that makes us feel inadequate or insufficient – to experience this is ¹painful. We are drawn to anything that makes us feel strong and significant - in control.

Yet, ironically, there is value in weakness and failure. It is a reality check. It helps us realize our limits – how weak and dependent we truly are. It causes us to consider that ultimately we must rely on God to be all we were designed to be. 

It also makes us consider that wanting what we most need but do not fully have yet, is not available in this life. This causes us to think beyond this life. 

For those who trust in God, this is also a reminder we won't have all we are designed for until we are fully united with our Creator in eternity, i.e. until we are glorified -- the true and ultimate state of existence we were designed for.
 

Longing is painful

We all long for a greater sense of meaning and purpose. However, this longing is painful. It speaks of something missing. The greater the longing, the greater the pain.

But, the more we enter into the pain of longing, the more we increase our capacity to experience God in all His glory – what we are ultimately created for. This is true now but even more importantly, in eternity. Therefore, we should not avoid our longings or seek to satisfy them temporarily by our independent efforts, but let them press us closer to God.

For a fuller discussion of “the anatomy of pain” click here.

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¹We weren’t designed to feel insignificant but important. This is a necessary part of our makeup so we might participate in a relationship with the most significant-important Being in the Universe – the Creator and Sustainer of all things. For further discussion, click here and here. 

Because this relationship is severed – by our choice – our self-image is severely damaged and extremely fragile. We are constantly looking to ease the pain of this damage and protect ourselves.

This is why we are so easily influenced by the labels others give to us, both positive and negative? The more significant another person and our relationship with them are – such as a parent, a coach, a mentor, a leader, a spouse or some other person of influence etc. – the more impact their words have on how we see ourselves – i.e. our self-image.

However, the only opinion-identity that matters ultimately is the one given to us by our Creator, the most significant person of all.  We are the beloved sons and daughters of God, loved in the same way the Father loves his only begotten Son.  If the most important being in all the universe -- the Creator and Sustainer of all things -- considers us this valuable that is saying something most significant about us vs. what anybody else says. "If God is for us who can be against us?..."