The Struggle with Brokenness

I recently spent time with a friend where we spent a good two hours talking about God and most of it was situated around the concept of "brokenness". How is it manifested in our own lives, how does the message of the cross change brokenness in the world, and how incredibly difficult it is to not allow brokenness to be a part of our identity?

Most Christians would agree that before sin entered the world there was no brokenness and after sin came into the world everything was broken. Nothing was as it was designed to be. Nothing. And I think somewhere in our hearts, ingrained in the core of our very being, all people would say that the things they are passionate about (say for social justice) are because they know that they are not as they should be. That they know there has to be something better out there.

I see people doing this all the time, where they see something that isn't working and try to fix it. But the truth is that nothing in this world can ever be truly made better. And that realization drives me and I know a lot of other people insane. That we are incapable of fixing the brokenness in this world. We are incapable of fixing the brokenness in our communities, in our homes, in our churches, in our government systems, in our finances, in the natural world around us, in ourselves. And it's because there is something deeper at stake here, something deeper at play that moves, flows, breathes and bursts forth within our world that says all brokenness can only be dealt with, changed and transformed by redemption. All brokenness can be made new and indeed is now being made new.

Just over a year ago I would have told you that the only way to lose weight was by diet and exercise. Which it is. However, the true message behind this is that you have to make the spiritual connection with God a priority first and then everything else falls in line. That the trinitarian make up of us humans as body, mind and spirit means that if our body is out of line then we need to focus on making sure that the spiritual is in line first before we even attempt the physical. Because the beautiful thing about our bodies is that what we experience physically is only a manifestation of something much deeper - that which we experience spiritually. We are embodied souls. When we crave food, we in that same craving, in our spirits, crave fulfillment in God. When we long to touch and connect with others around us, our spirits, in that same longing, really actually long for connection with God.

So going back to social justice or other societal problems, I see a hunger and longing in all of us for that which was as it was "designed to be." We as humans long for the world be as it was before sin and brokenness entered the world. So we fix and we try to create new systems in our societies to deal with the brokenness. And a lot of times things do end up getting better but the brokenness is still there. Because the systems can't be redeem by our own works. They can't bring life to that which is dead. We long for the life and the beauty that existed before sin. We cope, we manage and control, we compromise and often we pour Jesus into the mix and stir, with a dash of scripture here and there to back it up. When really we miss God's heart and what He really did on the cross. We miss His redeeming work.

Any good parent would tell you that when they tell their child not to do something that they are doing it out of a heart of love towards their child. But all the child hears is "don't". And like children still stuck in our black and white mentalities we do the same with God. We don't hear the message behind His "don't", we fail to hear His heart, we fail to listen to His heartbeat for the world. We fail to comprehend that God is happy. We fail to comprehend that He really likes us, not just loves us. Because we are so caught up in the law that lead to death. We fail to move beyond our brokenness and step into the law of Grace.

Yes the Law is still in effect, it was never dismantled or destroyed. It was fulfilled. Which means when we come to Christ we move BEYOND that dividing line (that is bridged by the cross) and step into the law of Grace, which leads to life. And in the law of Grace is where REDEMPTION happens. Redemption means to bring something to it's full value. You can't fix something enough to bring it to full value. You shatter a piece of china and you fix it with the utmost perfection, but because it was broken it will never have it's full value in price ever again. The only way to bring something to it's full value is to make it new. Something we humans are incapable of doing. Only the Spirit of Christ at work in our own lives and in the world around us is capable of the work of redeeming. Only God can make something dead be brought to life. Only God can redeem our brokenness and turn the most shattered pieces of our lives into a mosaic of beauty. And He promised that He will. But not everything will be fully redeemed here on earth - so we wait for the day of the Lord's returning. But since the cross, God has been at work redeeming the entire world, and it starts with us humans. We who are made in the image of God.

So again, I look at the ways society is trying to manage the brokenness and the tensions at play around that brokenness. I see the struggle between right and wrong, the questioning of morality at play and how the church plays into this. And I don't really want to get into choosing sides because the real question at stake in dealing with the brokenness and the systems that are made to help fix that which is broken is whether or not Jesus is in it. Is Jesus brought into it, or is Jesus at the center of it? Because until we understand God's heart we will continue to miss the point. The wanting things the way they were designed to be is at the core of who we are but it's also at the core of who God is too. The longing to do something about the brokenness flows from His heart. But what's even greater is that His heart doesn't want things just fixed, he wants them made new. He wants them redeemed.

And if His best for us is for things to be redeemed how do we play into that? I'm not really sure how, but what I do know is that this means we need to strive for things that reflect our new identity in Christ. And part of that is that we are a new creation, and we are made new only by the Holy Spirit alive in us, renewing our minds and being covered in the blood. So that means not stopping at changing things by accommodating for the brokenness and letting it continue to perpetuate our lives and our world. Because that's not our new identity. That's not what is within the law of Grace. That brokenness is what is found in the Law before Christ's death (which, as I mentioned before, is still in effect). But in bridging that cap, through the cross, we find ourselves within the Law of Grace where we and the world are redeemed!! And yes, it is very hard to let the world know this because if the Holy Spirit is not within them they cannot understand this. But we as Christians have been given the mind of Christ - we can understand this and we are held to a higher standard because of this. And that means we as Christians do not accommodate for brokenness because brokenness is not what is within the Law of Grace. We do not compromise and allow for people, government systems, organizations or nature to continue to live in that old identity of "broken" (which they may not realize, but we as Christians do). We don't because our identity is that of "redeemed." So we have the authority and the power to call to the things at play in the world around us and say "No, I am not OK with this because this is not who/what you are. You are no longer broken, you are no longer something to be fixed. Your identity now is 'redeemed,' and have been brought to full value."

If we want to fix the brokenness around us we need to realize that whatever is done has to flow out of God's heart or else it will never work, it will only allow the brokenness to perpetuate. God's heart is for redemption. God's heart is for us to live in that redemption. If the brokenness is allowed to perpetuate it will hinder us from ever stepping into that which God's redemption gave us - a new identity as redeemed and in right relationship with Him. So again, I look at the world around me and I see all the ways things are not as they were designed to be. But I transcend beyond what society is trying to do to fix that which is not as it was designed to be, and I claim Christ's way, along the narrow road. And along this road I work to stand on the new identity as one who is redeemed in a world that is being redeemed, (yes in a body that is wasting away with all of it's brokenness, but has been promised to also be redeemed upon being raised to life after death). Brokenness is no longer a part of that identity. Whatever brokenness I experience or interact with is not of God and is no longer a part of my identity. And it's no longer a part of the world's identity either. God promised He is going to make all things new, so I hold to that promise and I strive to live it out along the narrow road because that is who we are - we are new.

That's why the church is called to not accommodate for brokenness, to not be OK with allowing space for things that are not as they were designed to be. Not to be exclusive, not to pass judgment, not to say something is right or wrong, but to bring all things in this world into alignment with God's heart. And to help the world at large bridge that divide through the cross into the Law of Grace. And into God's new identity as "redeemed". Because we and the world are. No longer broken, no longer held captive, no longer dead. We ARE new and alive and brought to full value. So why do we continue to live as if the cross never happened?

Blessings!!