Looking for Power: One of the most common words in modern Christianity is the word power. We hear about the power of prayer, the power of faith, the power of the Spirit, the power of worship, the power of revival, the power of the church, the power to overcome sin, and the power to live an abundant and triumphant Christian life. Do I detect an obsession with power here? If so, we should not imagine ourselves exempt from it. There is something deeply attractive about the idea. We naturally prefer strength to weakness, victory to struggle, certainty to doubt, and success to failure. The promise of power appeals to something within all of us. Perhaps that is one reason it has become such a dominant theme in modern Christianity.
Entire ministries, conferences, books, and movements are built around the promise of power. Perhaps that alone tells us something about ourselves. The thought that Christianity might lift us above weakness, failure, uncertainty, and struggle into a life marked by strength and victory is deeply appealing. We want something visible, something measurable, something that assures us we are making progress. And if we are honest, there can be a subtle desire to possess something in ourselves that we can point to, some evidence of power, wisdom, growth, or even spirituality that distinguishes us from others. Yet perhaps that very desire can sometimes cause us to search for power where Scripture is directing us to look to Christ.
But before assuming we know what power is, perhaps a more important question should be asked: What does Scripture actually mean when it speaks of power? When the New Testament speaks of power, what is it actually describing? Is power primarily the ability to overcome circumstances, overcome emotions, overcome weakness, overcome failure, or overcome sin in a practical and observable way? That is often how the subject is presented. Yet when we begin reading the Scriptures, power frequently appears in a very different setting. The power of God is revealed in the resurrection of Christ. The gospel itself is called the power of God unto salvation. God’s people are kept by His power. And perhaps most surprising of all, Scripture repeatedly presents weakness, not strength, as the very stage upon which divine power is displayed.
The more I think about the subject, the more striking the contrast becomes. Modern Christianity often speaks of power in terms of overcoming. Overcoming weakness. Overcoming failure. Overcoming struggle. Overcoming adversity. Yet when we turn to the New Testament, we repeatedly encounter men who are weak, afflicted, persecuted, cast down, and burdened, while at the same time speaking of the power of God. Far from presenting these things as evidence that God’s power is absent, they often present them as the very setting in which it is displayed.
The Apostle Paul does not fit comfortably within many modern discussions of spiritual power. In fact, if we applied today’s common descriptions of power to his life, we might be forced to conclude that something was seriously lacking. He was afflicted, persecuted, imprisoned, beaten, opposed, and burdened. He spoke openly of weakness, groaning, trials, fears, reproaches, and distresses. He carried a thorn in the flesh that he repeatedly desired to be removed, yet it remained. And yet few men in Scripture speak more often about the power of God.
Consider Paul’s thorn in the flesh. Three times he besought the Lord that it might depart from him. Yet the answer he received is interesting. Christ does not say, ‘my power is sufficient for thee.” He says, ‘my grace is sufficient for thee.” That distinction is worth considering. Paul is not directed to some reservoir of strength within himself, but to the all-sufficient grace of Christ. The weakness is not taken away, yet neither is Christ’s grace. ‘Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.’ II Corinthians 12:9. Perhaps we have more to learn about this subject than we sometimes realize. At the very least, Paul forces us to reconsider some of our assumptions. The man who speaks so frequently about the power of God is also a man who speaks openly about weakness, suffering, affliction, and dependence upon Christ. I suspect there is more to that than we often realize.
Perhaps the question is not whether God possesses power, but where Scripture directs our attention when it speaks of it. For if Paul’s experience teaches us anything, it may be that divine power is often found in places where we least expect it. We may return to this subject again, but for now it is enough simply to ask whether we have been looking for power where the apostles looked for Christ. MPJ