Anya and some of her
friends were taking about doing interviews.
Apparently, a standard question is, ‘what are your greatest
weaknesses?’ Of course, the aim is to
try to answer that question in a way that makes you not look too bad. But supposing the potential employer actually
wanted weaknesses.
You say to God, ‘I am not
that smart.’ He replies, ‘Great! You’ll be perfect for showing the world that
my good news is for ordinary people.’ ‘I
am not very brave.’ ‘Perfect, then you
are going to have to depend on the Holy Spirit.’ ‘I struggle with anxiety.’ ‘Smashing!
You will be able to relate to real people in a real way.’ ‘I don’t think I have what it takes.’ ‘Marvellous, then you won’t be tempted to
think that you did it by yourself.’
Your most important
qualifications for ministry are your weaknesses.
God’s
power is made perfect in our weakness (7)
For
God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’
(6). What a marvellous way to describe
what it is to be a Christian! We were
people whose minds were hardened to the truth.
We were among those who were perishing.
The god of this world—the devil—had blinded our eyes from seeing the
light of the good news of Jesus. Yet the
God who spoke creation into being with a word, has shone in our hearts the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we
have this treasure—the good news of Jesus— in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and
not us (7).
Clay jars were the
throwaway containers of the day. They
were cheap and ordinary. The gospel
comes in packaging, but the packaging is not impressive. Supposing I give you a gift, and I decide to
put it in the most beautiful bag that you have ever seen. There is a chance you will spend more time
admiring the bag than the present. But if
I give you that same gift in a brown paper bag then there is no chance that you
become distracted by the packaging. We
are the brown paper bags!
The emphasis here is on
power. Evangelism is not about the power
of people, but the power of God. Paul
has already said that he does not depend on earthly wisdom, but on the grace of
God. We are called to give a reason for
the hope that is within us, and the apostle Paul could debate with very
well-educated people, but at the end of the day it isn’t fine sounding
arguments that bring people to Jesus it is being clear with the truth. The gospel has a power of its own!
Imagine Sam’s evangelism
training sessions. He looks at you and
asks you to explain how you became a Christian.
‘That’s not very exciting. Do we
have someone with a better story to tell?’
He looks at what you are wearing.
‘You need to dress for success.’
‘Have you thought about going to the gym?’ He suggests that you need to come across as
the sort of person that people on the street aspire to be like. Sam wouldn’t say those things because Sam
knows the gospel. The apostle Paul says,
what we proclaim is not ourselves, but
Jesus Christ as Lord … (5). Our aim
is to impress people with Jesus, not ourselves.
You don’t need to be someone else.
He can use you with your messed-up past, your lack of confidence and
your ordinariness to show that the
surpassing power of the good news belongs
to God and not us (7).
Our
weakness causes us to depend on God’s power (8-9)
Paul gives four examples
of how his weakness caused him to depend on God’s power. This is the pattern for everyone who wants to
serve Jesus. We were afflicted in every way but not crushed; perplexed, but not
driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed
(8-9). The ‘but nots’ of these verses
are the result of God’s power not his!
Is it ever God’s will for
His people to suffer? Of course it
is! Our suffering should cause us to
lean on God. When a Christian is going
through a hard time and yet God enables them to hold on to Jesus people around
them may ask, ‘what is it that is so good about Jesus that stops them becoming
bitter?’
When we are perplexed or
bewildered at what God is allowing happen in our life we should pray that we
won’t be driven to despair. When God
enables us to trust Him in the middle of our mess people may ask, ‘what have
they seen in Jesus that enables them to trust Him?’
Paul knew what it was to
be persecuted, but God enabled him to see that he was never forsaken. Even if the whole world stands against you
for being loyal to His truth, Jesus stands with you!
There is an incredible
picture in the book of Acts when Paul was struck down but not destroyed. He was in a town called Lystra sharing the good
news. The people turned against him,
picked up rocks and they stoned him.
They thought he was dead and left him outside their city. But Paul got up and went back into the city
(Acts 14:8-20). This is a story of God’s
power being displayed in Paul’s weakness.
Paul had nothing left in the tank.
He would not want us to marvel at his bravery but the fact that God
enabled him to do this. There is no
reason to think he was an exceptionally brave person. But as this broken man looked at the beauty
of Christ, Christ gave Him a courage that was not his own. When we cry out, ‘I can’t do it!’, we are in
the perfect place to depend on God’s power not ours.
Jesus
is our model of ministry (10-12)
We are always carrying in the body the death of
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over
to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in
our mortal flesh (10-11).
Apparently, the word for death here refers to the process of dying
rather that the state of being dead. Paul is speaking about the physical and
emotional pain that he experienced in his obedience to Jesus. He knew what it was to be slandered,
misunderstood and beaten. He knew what
it felt like to grieve over churches that were heading on a wrong course. Our experience of being under pressure as we
live for Jesus is a reflection of the dying life of Jesus.
Your family look down on
you because they think that you have become some sort of religious freak. It feels like death! The Christian on disability refuses to
exaggerate on their claim forms even though everyone else does it and they need
the cash. It feels like death! The Christian teacher feels that God is
calling them to work in a missionary school in a far-off country, but they love
the school they’re in. It feels like
death! The Christian electrician gets fired
because he won’t by-pass the taxman with cash in hand jobs. It feels like death! The Christian businessman never gets promoted
because he refuses to neglect his family and work all the hours of the
day. It feels like death! But our dying in Him results in life. Paul says that death was at work in us, but life at work in you (12). Without death in the life of the apostle Paul
there would be no new life for the Corinthians.
As we live a life of dying for Jesus He uses that witness to bring life to
those around us.
Paul’s
opponents didn’t think of themselves as jars of clay. They were trained in the best communication
techniques, boasted of the fees they could charge and could tell you of great
spiritual experiences they had. They looked
down on Paul who was unimpressive in person, a hesitant communicator and always
facing difficulties in his missionary efforts.
The
nervous breakdown, the teenage pregnancy, the broken marriage, the prison
sentence, the shyness, the social anxiety, the struggle to express ourselves
can all be used to display His power. We
have this treasure—the good news of Jesus— in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and
not us (7). Do you ever thank God
for your weaknesses? Are you glad for
the many ways in which you are ordinary?
Your messy past gives Him a opportunity to show how He restores the
broken. When we think that God’s call is
too difficult, He gets to show His power through our weakness. As we refuse to give up His demonstrates how
He never forsakes His people.
A
couple of decades ago someone wrote a letter to Billy Graham’s ‘Decision
Magazine’. They signed the letter only
with initials, so we don’t know if they were a man or woman.
‘For a long time, I was bitter
about life! It seemed that it had dealt
me a dirty blow. For since I was twelve
years old, I have been waiting for death to close in in on me. It was at that time that I learned that I
have muscular dystrophy.
I fought hard against this disease
and exercised hard, but to no avail. I
only grew weaker. All I could see was
what I missed: my friends went away to college and then got married and started
having families of their own. And when I
lay in bed thinking, despair would creep in from the dark corners to haunt
me. Life was meaningless!
In March last year, my mother came
home from the public library with Billy Graham’s work, ‘World Aflame.’ I started reading it, and as I read I
realised that I wanted God. I wanted
there to be a meaning to life. I wanted
to receive this deep faith and peace.
All I know is that now my life has changed, and I know that I have joy
in living.
No longer is the universe
chaotic. No longer does life have no
goal. There is instead God, who so loved
the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not
perish but have eternal life.
I continue to grow weaker. I am close to being totally helpless and I am
in pain most of the time. But sometimes
I am so glad I am alive that it is hard to keep myself from bursting at the
seam. I can see for the first time the
beauty all around me, and I realise how very lucky I am.
Despair is such a waste of time
when there is joy. And lack of faith is
such a waste of time when there is God.’
God
could have displayed His power by healing him, but instead choose to display
His power by sustaining their heart.
They were perplexed, but as they looked at Jesus, God enabled them not
to be driven to despair. I am sure that
refusing to wallow in self-pity must have felt like death. As they depended on Christ brings life and
encouragement to others.
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