Boasting only in Christ
2 Corinthians 11: 21-33
VV
30-31: If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do
not lie.
Many
of us are knowingly or unknowingly habituated to the sinful practice of boasting.
We boast of our heritage, talents, riches and many more in this line that shows
off our strength and beauty to the world. But do we ever boast of our
weaknesses? In this Pauline passage the negativity attached to boasting is
subverted to regard it as a potential device to glorify God; but only when
someone is ready to boast of his/her weakness.
It
was a practice of the Roman emperors to boastfully list out their exploits to
create awe and respect among their subjects. But they deliberately held back
any set backs from such lists. Later on many Christian itinerant preachers have
imitated this imperial practice of boasting on one’s achievements. Paul claims
that in matters of virtue, home city, country of origin or number of churches
planted he matches point by point with those who boast of their own heritages. He
had an edge in the listing of his sufferings as it surpassed that of his
competitors. His imprisonments, floggings, many “near-death experiences” and
anxieties regarding the fruits of his labour in a hind sight made him a real
minister of Christ through participation in his sufferings. He was boasting in
his weaknesses as they always revealed the power of God in its most majestic
manifestation. The Church today boasts of its inflated image of strength and
riches by conveniently hiding its weaknesses. Historically, whenever the church
relied too much and boasted on its strength, and failed to assume vulnerability
to serve the vulnerable, its mission came to a standstill. It is the readiness
of the church to assume the vulnerability for Christ’s sake that creates the
scenario for the manifestation of God’s power through the Church. It is time
for us to come out of the cocoons of false securities to assume and eventually boast
of our weaknesses that may become means revealing the glory of God’s reign.
Prayer
Almighty
God, give us the courage to boast of our weaknesses that we may love to share
in your sufferings to share the good news. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment