Paul encourages his sisters and brothers “to stand firm in the Lord in this way.” What way does he mean?

First Paul advises them to imitate him. But wait; Paul’s conversion experience literally knocks him to the ground, strikes him blind, forces him to leave behind his old beliefs and practices, makes him extremely unpopular, and lands him in prison, the place from which he writes this letter. Further, he instructs these Christians to observe those who “live according to the example you have in us.” That is to say, not according to those who are enemies of the cross because “their end is destruction.”

How can this be the description of the best way to stand firm? Paul’s instructions seem questionable at best. If we read carefully Paul’s words, we cannot help but ask, Was not the cross the way to suffering and death? How does choosing the way of the cross provide firm ground upon which to stand? How can these seeming opposites (vulnerability and standing firm) be held together?

If you are asking such questions, you have likely begun to grasp the paradox that expresses the truth Paul wants to convey and that lies at the heart of the gospel message. The way of vulnerability, the way of the cross, is the way of Jesus. It is folly to the Gentiles and a stumbling block to the Jews. The way of the cross still confounds us to this day.

How has loving made you vulnerable? Have you ever experienced failure or falling? When have you been vulnerable to pain and suffering? Did those experiences enlarge your heart? Did they open a way forward? Did they cause you to see and love yourself and others in a new way? The changes within us that result from pain and suffering for love can give us firm ground upon which to stand.