Read the Book: October - DecemberSample

IN OUR WEAKNESS

Weakness isn’t exactly one of our celebrated cultural virtues—not now, and not in the ancient world. How is it that an apostle of God can talk about weakness as if it’s a quality to be emulated? Could you ever tell someone you were glad to be weak with a straight face and a sincere heart? To be sure, Paul is speaking rhetorically, quoting back the charges against him. Maybe when he visits Corinth the next time, he will exercise some supernatural gift to prove, once and for all, his divine calling as an apostle.

However, the previous chapter has already redefined weakness. In fact, the entirety of this letter makes clear that without weakness, there would be no room for God’s grace. Paul’s prayer for healing was answered with, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (12:9) Here, in the final greetings, Paul pours out his heart and makes his desire for the Corinthians known one last time: full restoration, a people characterized by encouragement, unity of mind, and peace. To this end, Paul is willing to risk his reputation by sacrificing the rights he could have exercised all along as an apostle of Christ. He is willing to have others call him “weak” in order to model what it takes to live in community.

In this pattern of ministry, Paul is doing nothing other than following the example of God in Jesus Christ. God’s heart for us has always been full reconciliation of us to Himself, and He accomplished this through embodying weakness (Philippians 2:5-8). It is this surprising upheaval of cultural values that proved to be a folly to the Greeks and a stumbling block to God’s own people, the Jews. However, it was the only way. Could it be that God is calling us to imitate this pattern today? Perhaps there are some rights we cling to a little too tightly. Sometimes it’s the big ones, oftentimes the insignificant ones—personal tastes, trivial preferences, time, leisure, vengeance… the list could go on. What would embracing this kind of weakness look like for us today? 

FAMILY CONNECTION

Read 2 Corinthians 13:9. Why would we be glad to be weak? Play a game with your family. Try to stack as many boxes or stuffed animals that you can possibly hold. Who can get the most? What happens if two people try it together? We bet they can get more than they did by themselves, even summed together. By ourselves, we have no chance to carry the burden of sin. We need help! We can celebrate that no matter what we have done, God will always be there. We celebrate because He is our Savior!