Treasure in Jars of Clay: Embracing Our Weakness

You know, people will do almost anything to appear strong, successful, and worthy of admiration. We exercise our bodies with intensity post the process to Instagram, climb the corporate ladder at the expense of integrity, and struggle to accept the help of other people. Our society works by the principle that the way up is the road to success and value.When we transfer this into our Christian faith, here is what happens: We believe that comfort is a right that Christ would never remove, and that success indicates a godly Christian life. This sense of entitlement has therefore deeply impacted the way Christians interpret and respond to suffering.Think about how we talk about and react to a problem. We try to avoid it. We complain about it. We think we don’t deserve it. We’re embarrassed by it. We share with others about it. We believe that God is mad at us, or just plain angry.We hate weakness and will do almost anything to escape it.One big stink with this thinking is that weakness is real. Behind our “social profile”, everyone is weak. It’s inbuilt into our culture in this world. We can’t run from it, and thankfully we don’t need to. What we need is a biblical understanding of the value of weakness (that’s a strange-sounding phrase!), and how suffering is the tool God uses to expose it (that’s another strange idea!).You see man, everything changes when we see weakness and suffering in the light of the gospel. For it is through human weakness that God’s strength lifts us up and is displayed to the world.The Bible tells us that our Christianity is stored in jars of clay. Clay jars are brittle and easily broken. That’s what you and I are, easily broken. God has decided to use our weaknesses to display his power and love. “For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”2 Corinthians 4:6-7 Be Nice, Grace Wins