A few times lately I have heard a term among Christians which seems to be in vogue. Years ago "relevance" was a big point of emphasis, and the buzzword these days is being a "broken person." I heard a person stress the importance of broken people ministering to broken people. Then a few days later I read on a church website, "We are a church full of imperfect, broken people and we are saving a seat for you." The impression provided by this sentence is that those who attend will not be judged for their faults. Whilst it is true the church is filled with "broken" people, I want to gather with people Christ has made whole. No person or gathering of believers can claim perfection, but we can offer wholeness from Christ for all who are broken because we have experienced this firsthand.
It is good to create an environment where all people are accepted and valued regardless of their faults. It used to be a thing to be "broken" for your sin, a soul crushed and mortified for sin expressed in humble repentance. I don't know that this is the brokenness being suggested by the sources I have heard of late. Claiming to be a "broken person" seems to be the opposite - either shrugging my shoulders at my own sin or pride bubbling to the surface. The way I have heard this term expressed lately implies we need not hold to a firm enforcement of biblical standards concerning volunteers for ministry, since after all we are imperfect ourselves. If this is what it is meant by broken people ministering to broken people, this concerns me deeply. Serving tables might be done by any able-bodied employee, but those who did so in the church were required to have a good reputation, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3).
I believe we serve a God who heals broken people and makes them whole. This is not a claim to sinless perfection or a right to be judgemental, but it is acknowledging the reality of personal, spiritual transformation by the grace of God. When we are born again through repentance and faith in Jesus, we are made new and complete in Him. We should be filled with awe and humility - to be broken in one sense recognising our unworthiness - but to also be joined with Christ and others in godly fellowship as one. No longer are we cut off like a broken branch from the vine, but have been connected to Jesus as a hand to the Body of Christ. Here is my thinking: being imperfect and broken is not what draws other people to a church or offers hope, but what must be conveyed is the assurance of love, new life, wholeness, and salvation for all sinners. It is being broken which alerts us to our need of salvation, as it is written in Psalm 34:18, "The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." The bones God has broken can rejoice, for He is able to restore us by His grace.
Instead of focusing on my imperfections and that I am a "broken person," it is good for me to fix my eyes upon Jesus who remains without a single sin, the One whose body was broken on the cross so I could be made whole. We have good news, brothers and sisters. It's true we are not perfect, but this should never be an excuse for us not to confront sin in our own lives or in others we love with compassion and grace. These earthen vessels are not made out of gold or silver, but having been born again we have been miraculously made whole. We are filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit and thus made able ministers of the Gospel as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:5-7: "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. 6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." We are imperfect but whole; we are broken yet redeemed and restored. Isn't that wonderful?
It is good to create an environment where all people are accepted and valued regardless of their faults. It used to be a thing to be "broken" for your sin, a soul crushed and mortified for sin expressed in humble repentance. I don't know that this is the brokenness being suggested by the sources I have heard of late. Claiming to be a "broken person" seems to be the opposite - either shrugging my shoulders at my own sin or pride bubbling to the surface. The way I have heard this term expressed lately implies we need not hold to a firm enforcement of biblical standards concerning volunteers for ministry, since after all we are imperfect ourselves. If this is what it is meant by broken people ministering to broken people, this concerns me deeply. Serving tables might be done by any able-bodied employee, but those who did so in the church were required to have a good reputation, and to be filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3).
I believe we serve a God who heals broken people and makes them whole. This is not a claim to sinless perfection or a right to be judgemental, but it is acknowledging the reality of personal, spiritual transformation by the grace of God. When we are born again through repentance and faith in Jesus, we are made new and complete in Him. We should be filled with awe and humility - to be broken in one sense recognising our unworthiness - but to also be joined with Christ and others in godly fellowship as one. No longer are we cut off like a broken branch from the vine, but have been connected to Jesus as a hand to the Body of Christ. Here is my thinking: being imperfect and broken is not what draws other people to a church or offers hope, but what must be conveyed is the assurance of love, new life, wholeness, and salvation for all sinners. It is being broken which alerts us to our need of salvation, as it is written in Psalm 34:18, "The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." The bones God has broken can rejoice, for He is able to restore us by His grace.
Instead of focusing on my imperfections and that I am a "broken person," it is good for me to fix my eyes upon Jesus who remains without a single sin, the One whose body was broken on the cross so I could be made whole. We have good news, brothers and sisters. It's true we are not perfect, but this should never be an excuse for us not to confront sin in our own lives or in others we love with compassion and grace. These earthen vessels are not made out of gold or silver, but having been born again we have been miraculously made whole. We are filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit and thus made able ministers of the Gospel as Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:5-7: "For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus' sake. 6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." We are imperfect but whole; we are broken yet redeemed and restored. Isn't that wonderful?
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