Response to Brokenness

In Christians circles, an aspect that is quickly losing relevance is brokenness. Many people want to put this idea of brokenness to the side and think that our religion is not one with consequences. The idea that brings the consequence to humanity is sin. The Bible is very clear Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nobody is above this reality, the sin of our first parents makes this a gut-wrenching thought. If we diminish the thought of our nature that separates us from God, we are destined for eternal punishment. However, as followers of Christ, we have a chance to respond to the consequence. Therefore, a response is required to the brokenness that we have been born with.

To look at the right response takes time and searching the Scriptures to see what the God of Wonders has to say about it. As flawed humans we also must understand the incorrect ways that we try to respond to our brokenness. In an expositional commentary on Psalm 38 by Warren Wiersbe, he explains three directions that we can respond to the brokenness we face. Wiersbe says three directions that respond to our sinfulness being inward, outward, and towards Christ.

The first response is to look inward. Society would tell us that this is not an inappropriate response. What can we expect though from creation that is fallen and warped? The way that is not what God has called to us Ephesians 2:8–10 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And it is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The response of looking inward to fix the brokenness is completely selfish. It shows us how warped of a view we have towards our loving Creator. As Paul says here, nothing that we can do can put us in right standing with God. When we think that we can fix our own brokenness, we put ourselves in the position of God. Which leads toward idolatry of self and the circumstances that we find ourselves in. Furthermore, looking to ourselves to fix the brokenness that we have can lead to a large amount of inward shame and condemnation. However, Romans 8:1 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” To respond to brokenness thinking that we can fix it leads to the condemnation that we feel. The times where we think that we can look to ourselves for hope are the times that we feel that weight of shame. God’s word pleads with us to live in a different way. Responding inwardly is not the way that works. While the inward response is incorrect, the outward direction also shows a warped way to respond.

An outward facing response to brokenness is heart breaking. The people that respond this way would rather point out and make a big deal of other people’s sin. As people who care for people, we often see this response and want to change the way that the individual thinks about sin in general. But we are not the answer to other people’s response to sin. Matthew 7:3–5 says, “Why do you see the speck in that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take that speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” This verse may sound like a contradiction to the inward direction we have already discussed. However, this verse is more so talking about pointing out other people’s sin while they still are lost in their own. Jesus here is not trying to tell us that we need to be good in pointing out and finding our own personal sin. We need to be doing a better job in being humble when we see someone else falling into sin and directing them towards the word of God. The outward direction in a response to sin is judgement upon others. Unfortunately, the effects of this direction can be as harmful to the person who is doing the judging. We must understand that at the outset of this direction, the individual doing the judging is hiding their own personal sin. Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Here, the author of Proverbs is showing us something that should be very clear. The individual that keeps things in the dark is not going to have life in the full but continue to feed the creature rather than serving the creator. Thus, making it clear that this individual’s response to their brokenness is inappropriate. In both warped responses, we can see that each direction needs to have Christ at the forefront of their response.

Being a Christian means having Christ at the head of everything that we partake in. Our response to the brokenness that we feel is not excluded from this reality. In the first two responses we have talked about there seems to be some general flaws that plague both. If we have a Christ centered response to our brokenness, we will see the bondage of sin and death fall to the wayside. In all the biblical references that we have used thus far, each one of them could reference the way that taking a Christ centered response is the right way. For clarity Matthew 4:17 says, “From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Repent in this text means, to turn. He is referring to himself in the thing that we need to turn to. To do that is to recognize, but not demean ourselves, over our brokenness and run to the one who will take away all the pain from our sin. 1 Peter 2:24–25 says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” What a beautiful reminder of what God did by sending his son to die for us. Christ did the job to restore the brokenness that we feel so closely all the time. If we continue to turn to the one who died for all the brokenness, we can have the perfect response to brokenness. However, it does not explain the hurt and sorrow that we feel in our current culture and society.

We live in the twenty-four-hour news cycle and try to see Jesus restoring the brokenness, and we struggle to see it accomplished. The harsh reality is that unrepented sin leads our flesh to sin in a more harmful way. That effects everyone that is in our current context. From mass shootings, to disease, and political unrest nothing seems to be untouched by the stranglehold that brokenness has on our world. However, we are not hopeless because this is not our home. As believers, if we continue to look towards perfect relationship with our Father, this present suffering will be seen, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, light and momentary.

In Local churches today, the idea of brokenness and sin is not a topic that people want to address. To not address sin, is to miss the whole story of what Jesus accomplished in his Gospel. Sin is real and requires a real consequence as we stated before. The consequence is eternal separation from the deity that created everything. Without a response we are doomed in the largest sense of the word. Thus, a biblical response is required to have our brokenness restored. That response is to repent of our brokenness and turn to the bloody cross, see Jesus there and be so grateful for his sacrifice.