Game of the Weak

When you sit down at a poker table, what's the first thing you do?  Count your chips, to make sure they're accurate?  Say hello to friends you might know?  Or "size up" the other players, looking for an opponent to target? (A polite way of saying "pick on.")

We heard a minister on radio point out the other night that one successful strategy in sports is to go after an opponent's weakness.  It can happen in poker as well; newcomers or seemingly hesitant players who try to enter hands can be tested by veterans right away.

That preacher went on to say in a church situation, members should not pick on or exploit the weaknesses of others.  We understand what he means.  But over the next few days, the Christian world will focus on a Man who looked very weak for a short time -- yet really wasn't at all.

...Since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God's power. - II Corinthians 13:3-4

Before beginning His ministry, Jesus Christ worked as a carpenter (Mark 6:3).  We've never worked in such a job, it's apparently not a profession for wimpy-muscled people.  So artwork you might see of Jesus looking weak during His ministry probably are misleading.  But then came the crucifixion:

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who.... made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! - Philippians 2:5-8

Jesus was weakened by the torture He endured after being arrested - from flogging (Matthew 27:26) to being beaten with a staff (Mark 15:19) to carrying a wooden cross down a street (John 19:16-17).  He looked like the weakest human in town.  Yet the verse above notes Jesus "lives by God's power" - the power which raised the Lord from the dead.

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. - Romans 6:4

You may not consider yourself the weakest poker player in town. In fact, you may consider "Christian poker players" to be the weakest people in the room. But they may have a secret "power" you don't have.

...Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses.... For when I am weak, then I am strong. - II Corinthians 12:9-10

God gives power to seemingly weak believers through His Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8).

May you not take for granted the apparent weaknesses of other players.  After all, they can catch winning cards every bit as often as you. And may you not be deceived by believers in Jesus who seem weak in some way - because Jesus is now strong, resurrected and at the Father's right hand in heaven.