Broken

Broken.  This world is broken.

In God there is wholeness.  In sin there is brokenness.  There are some weeks that the reality of the broken world weighs on me like a ton of bricks.  This past week I felt that weight to a degree that I haven’t felt in some time. 

Broken.  This week brought an end to a very difficult and emotionally draining situation at work.  I won’t go into detail; just trust me that the 3 month long issue has been very taxing to witness.  Yes, even in the church, relationships can be broken.

Broken.  On Thursday in the midst of simultaneously running to a meeting and trying to feed 80 people at one of our tutoring programs, my car broke.  Something about the engine overheating, the pistons melting, no compression.   No warning signs – at least none that I picked up on.  It was a shock to go from having a car to not having a car unexpectedly.  I’ll tell you what else shocked me: the price it is going to cost to get it fixed.  My car is broken.

Broken.  Ron has been sick for several weeks (literally), but last week seemed to be the worst.   Perhaps the only reality harder than watching your spouse physically suffer is watching your child.  Since Ron and I do not have children, his suffering has been about as hard as it gets to watch, especially when I feel helpless to provide relief.  His body is not working as it should; it is broken.

Because of the second and third situation, I did not go to Boone on Saturday to spend the day with my brother and sister in law for Appalachian’s homecoming game against my alma mater, Samford.  My heart was broken.

While all the brokenness above has been very hard, perhaps the most difficult part of my week was the thread of steady reminders of our broken society.

Tuesday while tutoring a fifth grader, I happened upon a paragraph he had written.  He was embarrassed for me to read it; that was written all over his face.  He knew it was a mess: misspelled words that were on the kindergarten sight word list and grammar that was horrendous.  How could he get to fifth grade and not know how to spell kindergarten words?  How could he not know how to write a basic sentence?  Our education system is broken.  Add a brick.

Thursday I had lunch with one of the mothers from our tutoring program, and she was telling me about a situation she is going through involving her boyfriend.  Again, I won’t go into details, but I was acutely aware that God’s intention for marriage and family is broken.  I see that all across our city.  Mothers trying to raise their children with no father.  Fathers who have idolized their career so much that they are all but absent.  Parents who have divorced.  The family is broken.  One more brick.

Saturday I was at Barnes and Nobles, because our internet was broken (how very fitting).  As I was leaving I was approached by a couple asking of money.  When I asked about their need, they said they were homeless and were hoping to buy a night at the Express Inn.  I asked them how much they had and what they still needed.  They needed $15.  I gave it them in Jesus name.  Perhaps I should have gone with them to the Express Inn and paid in person, but honestly I didn’t have it in me.  I gave them the money and prayed that the act of compassion would somehow be used by God to not only provide for a physical need but draw them to God.  As I drove away and wrestled with my cynical heart, “I thought no one grows up aspiring to be a beggar.”  The fabric of our society is broken.  Yet another brick.

The brokenness is evident all around us.  Do you feel the weight of it?

What is our response?  It’s easy to play the blame game.  It’s the poor person’s fault.  It’s the government’s fault.  It’s the fault of unjust systems.  I’ve found that most people who respond through blame are the least likely to proactively respond to brokenness. 

Poverty and oppression are ultimately a theological issue.  In God there is wholeness; in sin there is brokenness.  The humbling reality is that we are all poor beggars broken because of sin and not functioning as whole people.  Instead of living in harmony with God, ourselves, others, and creation, our relationships in all these areas are fragmented.  This brokenness manifests itself in countless ways, one of which is poverty and oppression.  Since poverty and oppression are theological issues, it needs a theological response.  Thanks be to God that he has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.  God’s reconciled people should be the ones who are at the forefront of addressing issues of brokenness and pointing people to the Great Reconciler.  So if you are reconciled to God and a part of the Church, what are you doing to address issues of brokenness, of poverty and oppression?  Let me know if you’d like to talk through some suggestions.