Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk, and True Flourishing (2016)By Andy Crouch
Jesus had the greatest possible authority and yet made himself vulnerable. Flourishing people are both strong and weak. While we often either grasp for power or withdraw into safety, Crouch asserts that true flourishing (being fully alive) requires both strength and the vulnerability to show weakness. We see this in the best leaders - those who use authority to recognize and address failure rather than using it to conceal and minimize their weaknesses and mistakes. While exposure to possible failure is always a risk - it can increase, not diminish - one's authority, and that applies to our own actions as well as delegating authority to others: "Turning over power to others, giving them authority to act on their own behalf - to cultivate and create in their own right rather than just implementing our vision" (p 175). We see these facets in Jesus, who exposed himself to ridicule, torture and death. Yet walking this path lets the image of God shine through us and blesses others.
My review does not do justice to Crouch's points; his arguments are worth a read to truly understand the value of vulnerability and, from a Christian perspective, to trust ourselves fully to God, the ultimate authority.
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