Boast in your weakness

Why would I follow up my last post, "Be strong in the Lord," with a paradoxical statement like "boast in your weakness?" Be strong in the Lord and boast in your weakness. Hmm. "Paradox," of course means "a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true." These statements, to some, may seem to be contradictory... but yet it all adds up!

In my last post, and in the links I provided for my previous posts that went along with that post, one thing that I was aiming at was showing how everything that has to do with us being "strong in the Lord" is the result of God's grace, and His gifts to us. In no way, shape or form is it our own human strength that we're relying upon. Our own strength, compared to the strength we have in the Lord, is really nothing more than weakness.

Which leads us to boasting in our weakness. Paul goes crazy with the word "boast" in his letters to the Corinthians (especially 2 Corinthians), as well as in a few other letters. What is it that he's boasting about? He's boasting about his own weakness and he's boasting about the Lord's strength. They go hand in hand.

I guess one could say that Paul is boasting in his humanness. Of course he's not "celebrating" how weak he is as a human in such a way as to say, "Look at me! I'm weak and I sin, and I'm "just human" and that's just the way I am, so Woo Hoo!" Now, the truth is that he is weak and he does sin and he is "just human" - in and of himself. And we could leave it right there and just think that's the end of the story.

But that's not the end of the story! Paul "boasts" in his weakness, in his humanness, because it means that he is rejecting the idea that in and of himself he is strong and powerful. In Philippians 3 he lists out his human strengths and righteous deeds that he formerly boasted in - and it's a pretty impressive list! But before there's any chance for any applause or adoration from his readers, he promptly says "I count it all as dung!" Why does he count it all as dung? So that he can be found in Christ alone, not having his own righteousness, but rather the only righteousness that counts - God's righteousness that is given freely as a gift.

We "boast" in our human weakness because letting go of our own sense of strength and righteousness opens up the door for the Lord's strength and righteousness. Paul says, "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Related: The Sufficiency of Grace

Ain't that tuff enuff

All right, so I just couldn't help myself. :) It had been a few years since I'd heard this song but I heard it the other day on a radio flashback show and I just had to post some thoughts that I had about the song. It's a fun song from the 80's, and it's called "Tuff Enuff" by the Fabulous Thunderbirds. The song is about all the "tough" things a man would do for his woman. Climb the Empire State Building, fight Muhammad Ali, wrestle with a lion and a grizzly bear... and so on.

My formerly religious-stained mind is always seeing traces (and often huge chunks) of legalism in various things, even things that have nothing to do with Christian doctrine. LOL. It's not as if I seek these things out... they just come to me! Ha ha! And so in fun, but with a tinge of seriousness, I present this song to you from a different perspective than is intended by the song. Rather than a man acting tough for his woman, think of all the religious (read: legalistic) Christians out there for whom this song would be their mantra before God. "Look at all the things I'll do for You!" Or "Look at all the things I've done for You!" "Ain't that tough enough?"

And then thank God that we don't have to act tough in front of Him, and that His pleasure in us isn't based one bit on what we (think we can) do for Him!

I found a video for the song on youtube, but the audio quality wasn't all that great, plus it's more of a PG rated video than a G rated video (might be slightly offensive to some) so it's just as well. In lieu of that, then, I created playlist on playlist.com with just this one song! (See another playlist I created at the very bottom of this blog, with lots more songs). By the way, whoever is hosting this particular song on the internet incorrectly calls it "Tough Enough."

Boasting

Phil 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

We seem to stop with verse 12, but verse 12 is impossible without verse 13. Could we even say that verse 12 hangs on verse 13?

This salvation that we have - this wonderful, marvelous, eternal, splendiferous salvation that we have received solely as a gift of God's wonderful, marvelous, eternal, slendiferous grace, through His glorious gospel - is something that we "work out" in fear (awe, reverence) and trembling. Why fear? Why trembling? Because it is GOD HIMSELF - the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, the Creator of everything, the Great I Am, the Ancient of Days, the Eternal Living God - who has joined Himself with us and is at work in us in powerful and mighty ways. It's not "me" who's pulling this thing off. HE is at work in us to will and to do for His good pleasure!

If we are to boast about anything, it is in our weakness. In our weakness, He is strong. His strength is made perfect in weakness. "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Cor 12:9)