The Weakness We Detest

What is weakness? If nothing else, it's something that we humans detest. Even when we detect it in ourselves, instead of admitting it, we tend to hide it. We highlight our strengths, not our weaknesses, and we're taught to do so from our youth. As parents, we proudly tell our kids how good they are at this or that. We don't like hearing them talk about some deficiency they see in themselves. We see that as being a direct route to depression, angst, and a recipe for failure in life. We may acknowledge the weakness, but quickly point out to them how strong they are in some other area. We point out to them that everyone has weaknesses and strengths, but the strengths are where we focus, and where we want them to focus. When a depressed friend or family member sadly indicates to us how they're starting to hate themselves because of perceived deficiencies, what is the first thing we do? I know I find myself cheering them up, helping them to get their focus on their "positive" qualities.

In the Bible, God doesn't addresses our weaknesses the way we do. When we perceive weakness ,we try to minimize or avoid thinking about it. God, on the other, actually wants us to see and embrace our weaknesses and, somehow, it's for our good. He doesn't just say, "yes, you are weak in this or that area... but let's focus on your strengths." His message is different, but an essential one for us to hear if we don't want to miss out on what it means to live.

Aren't we born having certain "strengths" or aptitudes? Yes, each person is unique in the combination of aptitudes that they have been gifted by God with. And much of our counsel to our kids is appropriate. It is possible to spend so much time focusing on your weakness that you miss the strengths that you bring to the table. It's also appropriate that we encourage kids not to compare their strengths and weaknesses with those of others. They are, after all, unique. We should be thanking God for what He has made us.

But it's also a fact that these aptitudes are corrupted by a deep problem that the Bible calls "sin", which literally means "to miss the mark", or "to fall short of the mark". What mark, and how do we miss it? A mark is a target. The target is the perfect image that God made mankind in. The perfect image is the image of God Himself. He, and His perfect character, is the mark.

We miss that mark for one reason, and that is that we share in the rebellion of the first man, Adam. In the original creation, before mankind fell away from God, we were in a condition where we automatically "hit" the mark. Man "did" this without even trying. He didn't have to try to follow a set of commandments that ran counter to his natural desires. In our original condition, God was in His rightful place, not just at the center of our world, but as the center of our world. God was our sole authority. God was our confidante, our friend, our father. There was no competition for God, certainly not from Adam. There were no questions that didn't have their answer in God. If there were a throne to sit on, there would have been no question as to who belonged on it. Adam and Eve were God centered, not self centered. ALL was right with the world. In fact, the Bible records God's opinion of that world... that it was "very good". There was nothing that "missed the mark"...until the Fall.

Without going in to why he did it (I can't answer that question, and mystery abounds there), Adam (and Eve) made a choice to listen to another voice beside God's. It was the undoing of all mankind and was the first time the mark had been missed, but certainly not the last. And it didn't just become the first in a line of successive "misses". It became the root of a change in man's viewpoint and mode of operation. At that moment man became self centered. Man became blind to the truth and God was no longer seen as man's sole authority. If there had been a throne, man would have perched himself upon it. Man was now at the center of his own world. Man looked to himself to answer the questions. And unless God were consulted, man would get the answers wrong every time.

This is the state of corruption in which we now exists. To call it "weakness" is an understatement. The Bible actually calls it a state of death. God describes it through the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans. In Chapter 1, Paul tells us that the anger of God is directed toward the "unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness". We don't simply ignore the truth. we aren't only blind to the truth. We actually suppress the truth. Paul goes on to tell us that as a result, our thoughts have become futile, foolish, dishonoring to God, dark, depraved, full of lies, and wrongly focused on the worship of that which is created rather than on the Creator Himself.

The results of this mindset may be seen in each of our individual lives as well as in the history of the world. Both are filled with strife, confusion, sadness, destruction, and death. Romans chapter 3 goes on to say about us, "There is none righteous...there is none who understands...none who seek for God...all have become useless...there are none who do good."  Again, to call this state "weakness" is an understatement.

So far, this sounds like bad news, doesn't it? If that's the bad news, what's the good news? The good news is that God has provided a way of escape from this corrupt nature that we have. This escape is called "salvation" in the Bible. God's way of escape covers all the bases. It first covers the problem we have with facing Him on Judgment Day, because he is the perfect judge who will judge perfectly. Nothing escapes His notice and all things will be brought to light. In the brilliant light of His judgment, our rebellion against Him will be exposed for what it is. His way also covers the problem we have with our corrupt nature and the resultant destruction it wreaks. God's provision of salvation doesn't have as its only purpose our release from judgment. His purpose is to bring us back to life! That life is one that is intended to be lived here on earth, not just in heaven.

We play certain parts in God's salvation being implemented in our lives. One of our parts has to do with how we deal with the weakness we see in our lives. God doesn't tell us to minimize our weaknesses and maximize our strengths. rather, He tells us to come to Him and admit them. He wants us to be absolutely transparent and honest with Him about everything. It's lunacy to think that we could hide anything from him, anyway! He wants us to admit our weaknesses because, as the Bible teaches, God's power is perfected in weakness. Paul says that when he is weak (in himself), then he is strong (in God's strength). Our job is to present ourselves in all of our weakness to God. We can do this, only because of what Jesus has done for us and in us. He is the one who produces fruit in us as we present ourselves to Him. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4 we are called earthen vessels. In the first century, earthen vessels were fragile, imperfect, often cracked, and used for some pretty gross purposes, like holding human waste. Earthen vessels are weak.

Paul writes that  a Great Treasure has been put into the earthen vessels that we are. The treasure is God Himself! If we try to polish these vessels up and make them look good on the outside. Or if we try to squeeze things into them so that they appear to hold something great (our strengths), then the Treasure of God isn't going to shine out of them. As we present ourselves to God and admit to Him that these things that we have depended on to make us look good are worthless then we are, in a sense emptying the vessels of useless items so that they can manifest the true Treasure that's in them. It is thus that the weakness we detest becomes a vessel through which His strength is manifested. That's why Paul can say that, rather than detesting his weaknesses,  he is well content with them.