Whatever Happened to Weakness?
In recent years, no phrase has captured my attention more than “the weakness of God,” language Paul employs to explain the meaning of Christ’s crucifixion and the hidden power of the gospel’s saving message. I can recall many hymns about God’s power, might, and mercy, love, and justice. But his weakness? I know of none. I don’t recall anyone starting a prayer saying, “Our gloriously weak God, we draw near to you…” I don’t recall anyone preaching specifically on “the weakness of God."
How can Paul even speak of God’s “weakness”? It’s unimaginable.
Our culture doesn’t value weakness. I get that. We honor achievement, winning, power, riches, success, and influence. We do our best to avoid vulnerability, helplessness, and coming in second. We want to be verified on Twitter, followed on Instagram, and go viral on TikTok. We value lifting the trophy in triumph, not admitting we came in second. In our society, there may not be a bigger insult than being called a “LOSER!”
In other words, our culture looks very little like Christ and his Kingdom.
We’re so addicted to this way of life, however, that we often impose it on the church. We want full-service churches, a kind of Holy Ghost Crusie Liner with lots of buffet options, a place to entertain the kids, a good show, and some cool merch to make sure everyone knows we’ve been on board.
Churches end up paralyzed and compromised when they aim at image and power rather than service and love. While some preachers aim to build a brand and extend their platform, churches should beware of Super Pastors—they tend to trip over the capes. Brands are for cattle, and platforms are for diving. Ministry and church are actually about—wait for it—weakness. The truth is that there aren’t any people too weak for God to use, but many are disqualified by their strength.
This gets to the heart of the Gospel, authentic spirituality, and what Paul meant by “the weakness of God.” How does weakness help us understand God, his ways, and the path to which he calls us as followers of Jesus?
Weakness and the Law
In many passages, Paul explores the relationship between the law, sin, and weakness, and Romans 8:3 stands out in particular. Paul writes, "For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do." This introduces the concept of the law's impotence to effect true righteousness in the face of human weakness — a weakness compounded by sin.
The law, while good, becomes an instrument through which human vulnerability is exposed, not overcome. Paul articulates a vision of salvation that pivots on God's action in Jesus Christ rather than our capacity to uphold the law. Salvation by grace alone through faith alone is rooted in humankind’s inability to save ourselves and the inability of the Law of God to impart life. The Law has the power to put us to death and to expose our sinfulness, pointing to our need for the Savior, but it has no power to save and raise the dead.
Salvation starts with our weaknesses, not our strengths. In a way, the very thing anyone must come to grips with in order to become a believer is admitting, “I can’t do this.” Blessed are the humble.
Weakness and the Cross
God meets our weakness and the weakness of the Law with the strange, paradoxical, shocking mystery of his own weakness.
In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Paul writes that the cross - an emblem of shame, curse, scorn, and terror, an object from which all would turn away in shock and dismay - is the supreme means by which God reveals himself as Savior and Lord.
“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And the understanding of those who have understanding, I will confound.”
Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe…we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than mankind, and the weakness of God is stronger than mankind.”
In the cross of Christ, God has made himself weak to unleash his saving, forgiving, death-defeating power. Except in regard to sin, by his incarnation, God the Son - the eternal second person of the Trinity - became as we are in our limitation, humiliation, suffering, pain, and sorrow, making himself vulnerable and helpless. Christ did not do this simply to leave us a good example but to suffer and die on our behalf, his “weakness” in death paying the penalty of our sin, overpowering dark forces, and reversing the curse of death.
The author of Hebrews observes, “Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives… Therefore in all things he had to be made like his brothers so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb 2:14-18).
Weakness and Pain
Because the cross revealed the character of God, including his weakness, and proclaiming the cross unleashes the saving power of God, then living a cruciform life that boasts in weakness rather than prowess is what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The weakness that unveils immortal power is not a bug in the system; it’s a feature of the ways of God. For Paul, weakness is not merely a state to be endured but a space where God's grace and power manifest most. This perspective transforms the understanding of suffering and vulnerability. It suggests that these experiences, rather than appearing as signs of divine disfavor or personal failure, are opportunities for experiencing God's power and grace.
Weakness and Unity in the Church
In his letters, Paul addresses tensions within the early Christian communities, looking to help heal divisions. While the issues that were creating these challenges then may be different from the issues that divide us today, the apostolic instruction remains the same (Issues of dietary laws and observance of the Old Testament’s stipulated holy days were especially problematic - Romans 14:1-23, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13). These debates pitted the "strong" — those who felt freedom in Christ to eat anything and disregard traditional holy days — against the "weak" — those whose conscience compelled them to adhere to dietary laws and observe special days. Paul's categorization of believers as "weak" and” to foster empathy and understanding among diverse community members.
Central to Paul's teaching is the principle of mutual edification and avoiding causing another believer to stumble in faith (1 Corinthians 8:9-13; Romans 14:13-21). He advocates for the "strong" to exercise their freedom in Christ with sensitivity and love towards the "weak." This ethos is rooted in the self-sacrificial love of Christ, who did not please himself but bore the weaknesses of others (Romans 15:1-3). Paul's appeal is not for the "weak" to aspire to become "strong" or vice versa but for each to bear with the other in a spirit of love, humility, and self-denial. Again, the cross shapes our approach to one another because it is central to God’s reconciliation of sinners to himself.
Paul's discourse on the weak and the strong extends beyond the immediate context of dietary laws and religious days to a broader theological vision of unity in diversity within the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12:22-26, Paul speaks metaphorically of the church as a body with many parts, or “members,” asserting that those who seem weaker are indispensable and that all should have equal concern for each other. This vision celebrates diversity within the community while emphasizing mutual care, respect, and the pursuit of what builds up the other.
Paul's vision challenges contemporary churches to cultivate a spirit of mutual welcome, seeking to understand one another, offer support, and recognize that the strength of the community lies in its capacity to embrace and honor its diversity. Our differences may be many, and while ethnic, political, social, economic, educational, linguistic, and gender differences are often used as wedge issues by Satan to divide us, we can reverse this trend by seeing these issues and one another in the light of the cross that unites us.
Weakness as the Way of Life
It would be wise to give J.I. Packer the final word on the subject of weakness. In his book Weakness is the Way, Packer urges us to “be aware of our limitations and to let this awareness work in us humility and self-distrust, and a realization of our helplessness on our own. Thus we may learn our need to depend on Christ, our Savior and Lord, at every turn of the road, to practice that dependence as one of the constant habits of our heart, and hereby to discover what Paul discovered before us: ‘When I am weak, then I am strong’ (2 Cor. 12:10).”
If today we face suffering and pain, find ourselves circumstantially limited and unable to see a path ahead, if we sense our profound inadequacy in the face of work we know God has given us, or exhausted, downcast, and wondering where all our strength has gone, then we have been given a gift. These thorns that afflict us are opportunities for Christ’s perfect power to shine through the translucent layers of our weakness. God is delivering us from ourselves, from our boastful self-confidence, self-loathing, self-righteousness, and self-exaltation. He is bringing us to the cross of Christ, our true life and only boast. We will be able to say with Paul, “far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). In the words of J.I.Packer, weakness is the way.