Photo: Archee Lal – Unsplash

This is the first of a two part series exploring how many of us in the Church of England are feeling at the moment.

None of us likes weakness. And yet, at this point in time many of us are deeply aware of weakness. This is perhaps particularly acute for those of us who are part of the Church of England. Over the past few months, since the General Synod vote in February, our Christian lives and our ministries have been turned on their head. Many of us have been forced to ask big questions: Will there be a place for me in the Church of England? Can I trust my local and national church leadership? Am I compromising if I remain in the Church of England any longer? How can I keep going when many in my church disagree with me on such an important issue? And if my church does end up leaving the Church of England – how will we cope? I have addressed some of these questions already in my Open Letter.

But it is also helpful to consider what the Bible has to teach about weakness. This post won’t necessarily answer the above questions for you in your situation. But I hope it will give you some encouragement as you set out on your course, deeply aware of your weakness.

I’m currently preaching through the early chapters of 2 Corinthians, and I’ve found that this is one of the best places we can look in the Bible for a theology of weakness. Before we start: Why not take a minute to name one or two ways in which you currently experience weakness – whether in relation to the Church of England, or in some other part of life.

Here are 5 benefits of living and ministering in weakness:

1, Weakness teaches us to depend on God

The apostle Paul endured more weaknesses and struggles than any of us ever will. He writes that

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move…

2 Corinthians 11:23-26

We can read about many of these persecutions in the book of Acts, and Paul refers to one such at the start of 2 Corinthians:

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9

We don’t know which precise persecution he’s referring to. But what matters for our current purposes is the effect it had on him. He felt that he was under great pressure – beyond his ability to endure – so much so that he despaired of life itself. I wonder if you can identify with that? Can you think of a time you have felt under great pressure – and couldn’t endure any more? I certainly have. A year ago I wrote of some of the challenges I had recently faced – and if I’m honest in many ways things have got even harder since.

But I was also able to write in that post of God’s sustaining grace – and in that I was following the example of Paul who can write:

This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.

2 Corinthians 1:9-10

In other words, in his suffering Paul was forced to rely more and more on God, and he experienced God’s deliverance. And so little by little, day by day, his confidence was placed less and less in himself and more and more in God. This has also been my experience. Through the hardships – and through finding that my resources and ability are woefully inadequate – I have found that God is my only hope, and wonderfully, he is the only one who can provide! And if suffering is what it takes to cause my self-sufficient heart to depend more and more on God – then it’s a price I’m prepared to pay.

2, God’s power is revealed in our weakness

In many ways, this blog is built around 2 Corinthians 12:9:

God 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.

2 Corinthians 12:9

This will be a familiar verse to many of us. But what does Paul actually mean? In the past I’ve thought that God, and Paul, connects the two together – that where there is our weakness there will also be God’s strength. But I’ve recently come to see that the relationship is deeper than that: It is at the very point of our weakness that God’s power is revealed.

Let me give some examples – two from the history of God’s people, and one from personal experience. First, the rescue of Israel from Egypt. God’s people were held in terrible slavery in Egypt, and God resolved to rescue them from Pharaoh. And as we read through Exodus 3-12 we see that the worse the slavery and weakness of God’s people became, the more God’s power over Pharaoh was revealed. God revealed his power at the point of the weakness of God’s people.

The second and supreme example is the cross of Jesus Christ. As Jesus, the God-man, hung on the cross he was exposed to supreme weakness and humiliation – so much so that he was often portrayed in early non-Christian art as a donkey hanging on a cross. And yet Christians believe that at the point of his greatest weakness God worked in greatest power, dealing with the sin of all who would come to trust in him and bringing full and free forgiveness to billions:

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21

Speaking personally, back in April I suffered some symptoms of burnout (thankfully now in my past). I felt extreme weakness; and yet through that period I was aware of God working in great power in my life, changing me for the good (not least teaching me to rely on him more fully).

So we find that at the very point of weakness and death, God’s power and life is at work – a point that Paul makes in chapter 4:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

2 Corinthians 4:7-10

Could it be that for those of us who are feeling weak as a result of what is happening in the Church of England, God will demonstrate his power at precisely the point of our greatest weakness? What could that look like in your situation?

3, Weakness helps us to identify with and comfort those who are less fortunate than us

One of the other benefits of my symptoms of burnout has been that I’ve been able to identify with and comfort others who are struggling with similar conditions. It’s amazing how when you open up about your own struggles, other people are willing and feel able to open up about their own.

Paul has this in mind in his opening sentences in 2 Corinthians. He praises God ‘the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort’ who has comforted him ‘so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God’ (2 Corinthians 1:4). The Greek word translated ‘comfort’ is paraklesis, and means encouragement or exhortation. In our troubles and difficulties, through the Holy Spirit our Father encourages us, and exhorts us.

But he does so, at least in part, so we can encourage others. And I wonder if there’s relevance here specifically for those churches that are relatively ‘stronger’ in the Church of England at the moment – those that have more resources, or are united with one another and with their minister or Bishop. If you and your church are in that position – and praise God if you are – I wonder if you might have a role in encouraging other churches that are less fortunate than you: The vicar down the road who pastors a divided congregation; the church warden in a small church that is dependent on the will of its particular Diocese for a vicar; the church member who is weak in faith and is considering leaving the church altogether and not even looking for another one; the church that has decided to leave the Church of England and is struggling as a result. Could your church leadership have a conversation about how in your relatively privileged situation you can comfort and encourage other churches in a weaker situation?

4, Weakness encourages us to look forward to our ultimate destiny

In a previous post I have written of the great value of taking time each day to focus on the age to come when we will meet with Christ and will inhabit a world of perfect love for eternity. In the early chapters of 2 Corinthians it is clear that this perspective sustains Paul as well. He expresses it particularly clearly at the end of chapter 4:

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Though it is currently unseen to the physical eye, Paul has a clear vision of the glory that awaits. He sees that it is eternal, and that it will be magnificent. It will be so magnificent that even the persecutions he himself has suffered are but ‘light and momentary troubles’ in comparison!

How about this for a helpful exercise that we might try: Consider the challenges that you are facing; and then compare them to the insight you’ve so far been given into the glory that awaits you. Then allow for the fact that it will be far more glorious even than that. Hopefully you’ll see that your current troubles are indeed light and momentary in comparison. And they’re even helping to contribute to your future glory!

5, God’s power displayed in weakness brings praise and glory to God

We have already considered Paul’s experience of suffering and deliverance in Asia, and how this helped him to rely on God more (2 Corinthians 1:9-10). But Paul goes on in verse 11 to acknowledge the role of the Corinthians and other believers in his experience:

…as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

2 Corinthians 1:11

Paul acknowledges the key role of the Corinthians and other Christians in praying for him. God’s deliverance of Paul was at least in part as a result of their prayers. And he also looks ahead and sees the spiritual consequence of his past and future deliverances: More and more people will give thanks to God for the grace shown to Paul in response to the prayers of many. There is a cycle of prayer, deliverance and thanksgiving on the part of many which brings blessing to Paul, joy to other believers and glory to God. Can you imagine how this could this happen in our current situation with the Church of England?

Conclusion

Suffering is hard. Weakness feels horrible. And yet – here are 5 reasons why weakness can turn out for the good. I’m sure there are lots of other reasons as well – Can you think of any?