SW Power Made Perfect

I think a reason that Jesus chose to dampen the enthusiasm of His disciples with regard to their power over opposing spiritual forces was because He knew that experiences of triumph would not characterize much of their ministry. If they expected to take over and win, they would be unprepared to suffer as disciples, and become confused and disillusioned when it looked like the enemy was winning.

This is exactly what happened with Peter. Convinced the Messiah came to conquer and reign, he found Jesus' prediction of His arrest and death unthinkable and rebuked Him. In Peter’s view, the Messiah was meant to defeat His enemies, not be crucified. His later denial was the direct fruit of this triumphalist expectation. While Peter had the courage to draw a sword against an armed crowd, his courage vanished before a servant girl. He was prepared to fight and defeat Jesus' enemies, but he was not prepared to suffer with Jesus.

Paul's ministry was hardly a vocation of triumphing over opposing spiritual forces. On the contrary, he was constantly facing significant opposition that thwarted his plans and caused significant suffering. One example of many passages... "but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger" (2 Cor 6:4-5).

Paul's thorn in the flesh passage in 2 Corinthians 12 is an encounter of experiencing the effective opposition of opposing spiritual forces rather than triumphing over them. Whatever his thorn in the flesh was, he identified it as a messenger of Satan that continued to torment him in spite of his repeated prayers for the Lord to remove it. The Lord's response prepared Paul for what Peter failed to face. "My grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness." This response reframed Paul's perspective. "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

"Power made perfect in weakness" runs counter to conventional wisdom, which assumes effectiveness requires power and strength rather than weakness. Christians frequently lament their loss of cultural influence as though it were a crisis requiring divine intervention—much like Paul’s thorn. Many seek to recover this lost influence and reclaim the broader culture. Within the theology of work movement, this goal takes the form of equipping believers to reshape their workplaces—a worthy objective in itself. However, when paired with a "take over and win" posture, the output routinely lacks the fruit of the Spirit. Are those most vocal about reclaiming the culture from spiritual opposition recognized for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control?

Perhaps believers remain ill-equipped to wield the power that a "take over and win" mentality demands. Such power easily breeds pride and feeds fleshly impulses. Perhaps the power that God wants us to have in this age is made perfect in weakness.

Recall Gary Kinnaman's assertion from post SW Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare : “Orthodoxy is necessary, but it is not enough. If it is true that our battle is not against flesh and blood, then we need spiritual insight and power of our own to make a fight of it” (p. 182). We must allow Paul's paradoxical conclusion to inform our perception of how Christians seek power today. Rather than grasping for 'power of our own' to control outcomes, we are called to let his words—'for when I am weak, then I am strong'—challenge the triumphalist strategies that are so appealing.