The Common Denominator Between Us
A few years ago, Bill George from the Harvard Business School took on an ambitious study. He wanted to determine what the characteristics of successful leaders were. After interviews with 125 of the top leaders, he was disheartened. No obvious characteristics stood out. George read through his notes one more time. Suddenly, it became clear to him. He realised that all of these leaders have one common denominator: their own shortcomings. All of them admit that they have made mistakes due to their egos, faults, or not listening to the wisdom of others. They had to learn to put their pride aside and be willing to be honest about their own weaknesses, desiring to actually learn from their mistakes.
Being transparent about your inabilities and weaknesses is not only a modern day challenge. Even Paul was honest about it. Several times throughout 2 Corinthians he writes openly about his weaknesses. He did this in contrast to visiting teachers in Corinth who would often boast about their latest revelations, spiritual breakthroughs, and successes. Paul admitted that he was sometimes perplexed about wisdom. He was often thrown down on the ground and stepped on. Persecution, mockery, misunderstanding, and suffering were all likely in the path that lay ahead for him. Three times Paul prayed to the Lord to remove this thorn in his flesh, only to hear that God’s grace is sufficient for him, God’s power perfected in Paul’s weakness (2 Corinthians 12).
God’s power works through weak human containers. Paul had to learn the hard way that he is not the display case for God’s power. He is merely a conductor of it. He also had to discover that he himself did not need more power, but rather needed more grace. Human weakness is actually godly opportunity in disguise.
Effective people do not pray their weaknesses away. Vulnerability is not a loophole for deliberate sin or an excuse for mediocrity. Honesty like Paul’s involves a deep realisation by followers of Christ that we are not the “big” answer or that we always know everything. In contrast we are fragile containers that constantly need divine grace. Without an awareness of our own weaknesses and inabilities, we become stuck in our own egos. May this never happen!