My weakness

[Bootstrap]

Once that line is drawn, how does the Anabaptist fellowship proceed to encourage the weaker brother to embrace Christ's grace and the perfection of Christ's strength in his own weakness so that he may grow stronger and leave a life of gravely sinful ways, such as drugs, homosexual lifestyle, etc. (to "sin no more")? [bible]2 Corinthians 12, 7-10[/bible]

Should I use this query to start another thread or is it easier to speak of ways to encourage and strengthen weaker brethren on this thread?

I think Paul is telling us that it is appropriate to boast of our weaknesses, and God's strength. In this passage, Paul isn't talking about how great a Christian is, and asking how best to relate to those "weaker Christians", he is talking about his own weakness.

It's vitally important to remember our own sinfulness and God's grace.

Paul does this in Romans 7, too.

21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

[Bootstrap]

Jesus preached about this in Luke 18:

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

We are always in danger of trusting that we ourselves are righteous, and treating others with contempt. In fact, I've seen entire church congregations whose spirituality seemed to revolve around that, and American politicized religion is often full of this.

If we want to live out biblical Christianity, I think we need to repent and seek humility, not trusting in our own righteousness, not proclaiming our own holiness, but proclaiming Jesus Christ and his grace.

As for that "weaker brother" over there ... maybe testifying to our own weakness and to God's grace is one of the most important things we can do, learning to walk in righteousness together by God's grace.

[RZehr]

Some people are weak in one area, some are weak in a different area. And the first person may be strong in some areas, and I may be strong in a different area.
Of course with years of walking with Christ, one ought to be stronger than a new babe.
But lets not get the mindset that the next person is weak across the board, just because we are seeing and focusing on his weakness. On the whole I may be weaker than him.