In the Christian faith, nothing is more powerful than
weakness. It provides the background for the release of all of
the power of God. Every advance that is made in the kingdom of
God derives its efficacy from this.
Christianity is full of apparent contradictions. Many of
those who are first shall be last, and the last first. We live
by dying; we gain by losing. It is also the case that we derive
power from weakness.
This is fully evident in the life of Christ. After Judas
betrayed Him and He was arrested, how did Jesus handle the
situation? Did he call fire down from heaven? Did He call in
legions of angels? No. He simply let them take Him away. Why?
Why would the very incarnation of omnipotence simply allow
Himself to be taken away? It was because He understood the power
of weakness.
Did He put up a fuss? Did he struggle? He didn't need to.
He could afford to be kind. He healed the ear of one of his
captors after one of the disciples lopped it off. Why? Why
didn't He put up a fight? Jesus was an innocent man, yet,
throughout His trial, He did not attempt to answer His accusers.
When he was scourged, whipped, beaten, and crucified, He did not
complain. He didn't tell the perpetrators of these injustices
that he was innocent, or that he was being treated unfairly. Why
is this? There is no spiritual force greater than weakness,
particularly when it is taken on voluntarily, with the knowledge
that God is sovereign over all that we suffer and that He will
rectify all wrongs.
God shows Himself strong on behalf of those who do not take
upon themselves the responsibility of defending themselves.
Because He is our defender, we can afford to treat our enemies
kindly. We have absolutely nothing to fear from anything or
anybody, because we know that the One who defends us is all-
powerful.
David understood something of this truth in his struggles
with Saul. On several occasions, David could have killed Saul,
and all of his troubles would have been over. But he knew that
he could afford to allow his enemy to live. He knew that the
Lord was his protector, vindicator and defender, and that, in His
sovereignty, God would take care of his enemies. David knew that
if he were to trust the Lord and obey Him, that God, in turn,
would move mightily on his behalf. In fact, this very principle
is the theme of many of the Psalms, a number of which were
written during the heat of the conflict that was raging between
Saul and David.
This is why Jesus told us to love our enemies. There is
tremendous power in this principle--so much so, that Paul in his
epistles likened it to heaping burning coals upon a person's
head. The way to utterly defeat an enemy is to treat him with
absolute kindness, and to do so, not out of malice, but with
kindness in one's heart. What can be more baffling, or
disconcerting, to any enemy, when this happens? What can be more
disarming?
If we do nothing to defend ourselves, our enemy has no way
of justifying his attitudes and actions. The burden to his
conscience therefore becomes unbearable. If he does not desist,
his suffering is intensified.
David understood this principle well. Even as king, David's
philosophy was that if somebody had something bad to say about
him, he should not be silenced. Either his enemy was right, or,
if not, then it was God's responsibility to bring conviction and
judgment.
Throughout the ages, it has often been said that "the blood
of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church." This comment, which
originated with Tertullian in the late second century, is simply
an observation of the truth of the principle of the tremendous
spiritual power of weakness. When people are martyred for their
faith in Christ, making no attempt to defend themselves, nothing
has greater power as an inspiration to others, who then become
Christians themselves, disregarding all of the possible
consequences.
There is a tremendous illustration of this principle in some
of the incidents recorded in the book of Acts. When Stephen was
stoned because of His faith in Christ, he didn't put up a fight.
Contrary to all of the expectations of those who opposed him, he
asked that God forgive them. One of the people standing by
during this incident was Saul of Tarsus, who, at the time, was in
agreement with those who were stoning Stephen.
One of the most effective ways of releasing the power of God
is through the forgiveness of one's enemies. This is what
Stephen did when he was stoned, and eventually, Saul of Tarsus
became Paul, one of the greatest apostles known to the Christian
faith, and the author of many of the most important parts of the
New Testament. It is quite probable that Saul's conversion was
made possible through the spiritual power released through
Stephen's forgiveness of those who stoned him.
Weakness is one of the most powerful weapons of our warfare
as Christians, and most of the other spiritual weapons are
derived from it. As we have just seen, forgiveness is one of
them. Another is humility, also a form of weakness. If we
humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, then, we are told, He
will raise us up in due time. This is an infallible principle
for those who engage in it with proper motivations.
Do you want to be a strong Christian warrior? Then become
weak. Forgive your enemies. Humble yourself. Let everyone else
have preeminence. Don't seek to be well liked or well respected.
Don't maneuver your way into an enviable position. Let God do
it. Don't seek power or wealth. When we are weak, then, it
turns out, we are strong. Then when God moves on our behalf, it
becomes clear that it is God who has raised us up, and that we
could not possibly have done it ourselves.
To fight the good fight effectively, we must not boast. We
must not do anything to make ourselves look good. We must, in
modesty, remain silent unless there is a clear mandate from God
for us to speak. If we are weak, then God can show Himself to be
strong on our behalf.
The effective Christian warrior is not the one who looks
good because he or she has taken care to make himself look good
outwardly. Rather, it is the one who is concerned with whether
he or she is truly good inwardly. This, also, is weakness, and
from it, tremendous spiritual power is derived.
We must not promote ourselves, either as individuals or as a
group. To do so would be to short circuit the power of God in
our individual and corporate lives. We must depend upon God to
raise us up, should He see fit to do so, always remembering that
He may never see fit to do so, but remaining content
nevertheless. We cannot afford to do it any other way. If we
aspire to be God's representatives upon the earth, then we must
aspire to fulfill this responsibility according to His
principles.
If we truly want the power of God to be operative in our
lives, then we have no choice but to renounce all desire for such
power. This is a paradox, but it is true nevertheless. It is
only through the lack of power, and the lack of any desire for
it, that we can obtain power in the faith.
Weakness, or lack of power, is the weapon that completely
disarms all of the hosts of the enemy. Intercession is helpful,
but apart from this background of weakness it is a puny weapon
indeed. If we intercede thinking that we are great intercessors,
then, to a large degree, we have circumvented any real
effectiveness we might have had. If we share our faith with
others, confident that we are evangelists par excellence, then
our efforts will largely be wasted. Whatever we do, if we do it
thinking highly of ourselves for it, then these works will be as
nothing.
Weakness is closely related to absolute reliance upon God
for everything. Such reliance does not constitute passivity, but
trust in the power of God, and recognition that, in and of
ourselves, we are as nothing, but that if we are living and
working in obedience to God, He will bring to pass all that
concerns us.
God is the one who raises people up and who brings them
down. He is the one who grants us favor and who humbles us. If
we wish to be lifted up, then we must humble ourselves. This,
also, is a paradox, because, by definition, humility entails the
lack of desire for any prominence.
We have no choice but obedience. Those who are disobedient
to God are following after wealth, or prominence, or pleasure, or
comfort, or security. But to pursue these things will ultimately
cause us to lose them. All of them. And this is true for
everyone. We have no choice but to stop pursuing them, because
the only chance we will ever have of obtaining them is if they
really no longer matter to us any more.
Our only recourse is weakness. God will eventually bring
every one of us to the point of weakness one way or another.
Either we will voluntarily come to this place, or He will
eventually force us to this point, and we will suffer for it
perpetually. He will make examples out of every last one of us.
We can choose whether we want to be a good examples or poor ones,
but we will all be examples.
Let us pray, then, that God would enable us to be good
examples, and that He help us to be willing to be vessels of
weakness. Let the cry of our hearts be that we act according to
these principles, and that we be given the grace to love our
enemies, to humble ourselves, and to seek nothing except to
please the one who created us and who wants what's best for us,
even more than we want it for ourselves. In Jesus' name we ask
these things. Amen.
Richard M. Riss
Union Bible Church, Old Bridge, N.J., September 6, 1992