The power of vulnerability

Simon Hall marvels that God not only chose to be vulnerable, thereby demonstrating something significant about his character, but that the Bible implies there is more power in radical vulnerability - in our weakness and failure - than our confidence...

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power 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.
(1 Corinthians 12:9)

I don’t know how you imagine the historical Jesus. Without ever really articulating it, I think that for many years I presumed that God was ‘hiding’ inside Jesus, all-knowing and all-powerful, waiting until it was time to show everyone what he was really like. There must have been moments in Torah class where Jesus knew the answers but had to pretend to be eight years old. Obviously this is absurd: the child Jesus was a real child, albeit a rather special one.

This forces us into a remarkable theological corner. Jesus was not all-knowing (Mt 24:36), he was not all-powerful (Mt 13:58), and yet in some mysterious way he was God. Why is this important? Well, God’s most perfect revelation of God’s self is an act of disempowerment, what theologians call kenosis: self-emptying. In Wesley’s amazing words, Jesus ‘emptied himself of all but love.’ God became vulnerable, and that vulnerability was exposed over and over again; through misunderstanding, rejection, humiliation and death. For reasons we can only begin to fathom, God decided that it was through this very vulnerability that we would see God most clearly. As we seek to show our city what God is like, and what being fully alive is like, is it possible that it is our weakness and failure that God can use? Is it also possible that (for some, at least) our confidence lacks integrity? Vulnerability brings struggling and doubt into the open, as Jesus did in Gethsemane.

God became vulnerable, and that vulnerability was exposed over and over again; through misunderstanding, rejection, humiliation and death. For reasons we can only begin to fathom, God decided that it was through this very vulnerability that we would see God most clearly

In what way does this vulnerability, this risk, this danger, re-incarnate God? It feels wrong. It doesn’t work. It can’t work!

Paul reports God’s challenge to him about his own lack of vulnerability, and in typically over-the-top fashion Paul now promises to boast about his weaknesses. I’m not sure that’s always necessary! But here’s something: when I remember this verse I always accidentally insert a ‘your’ into it: MY power is made perfect in YOUR weakness. That’s not what the verse says, it’s actually a much broader principle about the way God works. It’s not that there is no power, or that power is always bad; Paul teaches us that even God’s power is only ‘made perfect’ in the context of radical vulnerability.

This vulnerability should have an impact on the way we deal with our friends and our critics, with those who share our views and those who don’t. It works itself out in different ways: confessing our sins to one another, choosing to learn from people we disagree with, admitting when there aren’t any answers. These are all big ones for me, but I can tell you that every now and then, when I practice these disciplines and others, I see a glimpse of what Paul is getting at: God’s power made perfect in weakness. It is beautiful, and I want more.

Simon Hall is a househusband and part-time outreach worker for a local arts charity. Over the past year, funded by LCCT, he has been researching how Christians engaged in pioneering mission look after themselves.

This article was originally published on the Leeds Christian Community Trust co-operative blog. LCCT is an ecumenical charity for the city of Leeds, which acts as an incubator for fledgling Christian projects. Every month, a different project worker or volunteer posts an article exploring a value they seek to uphold in their work. Visit the blog.