I write this article in mid-October. I state the date because the discourse of our common life as American citizens is quickly changing, day-by-day, and by the time this is read by others, who knows what the conversation might be. There is one topic, however, that I hope will remain in the public square is the intersection of responsible power and empowering vulnerability. While at a glance, power and vulnerability might be seen to be opposites. However, I believe that the true path to redemption, modeled and lived by Jesus Christ, is a path that holds both power and vulnerability together as complimentary characteristics.
Think about the life of Jesus. He began his ministry being named as the powerful one by his kin John, yet he stepped into the Jordan River to submit to baptism by that same kin. Power and vulnerability. He walked into the desert without a soul to support him, alone and at risk, encountered the devil and emerged prepared to bring the Word of God to the world. Power and vulnerability. He taught his disciples lessons of great magnitude, speaking and acting for God, and then stooped down to wash the feet of those same disciples in a humble act of love. Power and vulnerability. He rode into Jerusalem having amassed a large following, knowing that in the end, he would walk alone. Power and vulnerability. He submitted to being killed on the hard wood of the cross, and exploded all perceptions of death by rising and living again. Power and vulnerability.
We live in a country that defaults to power over vulnerability, and where power is often abused to the detriment of the vulnerable. It is only natural to think that a power-grab is more desirable than a gentle posture of vulnerability. There is a misguided belief that in order to be the winner and not the loser, one must be powerful. Yet, Jesus demonstrated in his own life, the life that we seek to model, that in order to have true power, one must allow oneself to be vulnerable.
Vulnerability should not be confused with weakness or allowing oneself to be stepped on or the toxic condition of shame. Rather, vulnerability is the mark of what author Brené Brown calls a “whole-hearted people.” Like Jesus, being vulnerable is the willingness to take a risk, to sit with discomfort, to practice gratitude and joy, and to love with our whole hearts without a guarantee of receiving love in return. And what allows us to be confident in our vulnerability is the sure knowledge that we are enough, we are loved by God, and we have an inner-power granted to us through our belief in Jesus Christ.
As we move towards the Season of Advent, the season of becoming, may we each call out and reject misused power. May we each work to be whole-hearted people, following in the path of Jesus, whose vulnerability on the cross broke into the ultimate power of life everlasting.
~Lori+