The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

by Jamin Goggin

The way of life to which followers of Jesus are called entails discovering that power is found in weakness. As an apostle, Paul modeled what the Christian life should look like. The proclamation of the gospel is not only heard in his teaching, but is observed in his manner of living.7 Following Paul’s example is not simply mimicking certain ethical behavior, but is embracing his way of life. Paul makes this clear to the Corinthians, holding their way of life in contrast with the apostles’ way: We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me. (1 Cor. 4:10–16)