None of us truly understand nor live the Christian life, until, like
Christ, we have been broken.
But the
phenomenon of being broken is a harried and confused subject. The uninitiated
will associate it as barbaric; how could a good God require us to be broken?
For the initiated, it can be a case of Pharisaic pride – ‘I know it and you don’t’
— but, truly, that is not brokenness.
Brokenness is
a state of bereftness
before and without God.
before and without God.
To know the
true state of heart.
To be of poverty of spirit.
To know our own soul’s truth.
To be of poverty of spirit.
To know our own soul’s truth.
And that truth
is ugly
as much as it’s incontrovertible.
as much as it’s incontrovertible.
Broken people have come to the
end of themselves
and have begun a journey walking humbly with their God.
and have begun a journey walking humbly with their God.
It’s not
that they don’t have pride to contend with. They do. They’re just aware of it
as it crops up. They see their pride as an
inherent part of their brokenness and they pour contempt on their pride. It
cannot survive such a continual holy deluge.
Broken
people have reconciled a very important issue; in responding to conflict they
have resolved through years of learning that both attack and withdrawal
reactions do not work.
The Holy
Spirit has shown them a third way.
I know
my heart – do you know yours?
The state
of a Christian’s heart is a quantifiable reality.
Rarely
does the heart want to do the right thing, and never without God. On a recent
drive home from work, having had a good day, relationships and devotions and
sessions with individuals successfully negotiated and accomplished, I was at a
loss as to why I was so impatient. On at least three occasions I was tempted to
get annoyed at other drivers, at least that was how I was feeling within myself.
I praise God that He was able to show me this; that He has piqued such
awareness in me regarding the state of my heart. The only response worthy of
God was for me to repent — to receive His gentle though firm rebuke.
My heart is rotten through and
through,
even though I am ardently devoted to God.
even though I am ardently devoted to God.
I know my
heart. I know how readily I am tempted to sin. And I know how insidious and
crafty the one who tempts me into sin is. I am a moment away from a fall, and
my only protection is to be honest and accountable before God and others.
My
question is, is your heart any better than mine? And if you think it is, can
you categorically say it is not pride that mounts such a defence? Remember that
pride is cunning, and the wiles of Satan are a ploy to destroy us.
The
reason forgiveness is so damn hard
The reason
forgiveness is so damn hard is so basic it should floor us for its simplicity.
Our heart is rotten and seeks to win at all costs, and their heart is rotten
and they seek to win at all costs too. We can only see from our own perspective;
we don’t see well from others’ perspectives. We don’t account for the mistakes
of others, but when we make mistakes we want to be forgiven. We judge ourselves
easily, and yet go harshly on others. And we never realise the rod we make for
our backs in blaming other people when we have our own contribution to own.
The reason forgiveness is so
hard
is the sheer number of factors
against seeing how God sees.
is the sheer number of factors
against seeing how God sees.
Our hearts deceive us.
It is very
easy to see why God, alone, has the capacity to give grace. Without God’s help
we have no way of giving people the grace they need — that we also need from them.
Why
brokenness is the only way
Salvation is
truly a state and an experience. We are saved by our active belief in the Lord Jesus; not simply by saying He is our Saviour,
but by following Him; our allowing Him
truly to be Lord of our life.
Such a
life is a life given to repentance. Where a Christian does not readily and
daily repent, they really are not Christian at all. Christians do not go around
carousing with and criticising others in the name of the Lord.
If there is no fruit of
repentance in a Christian’s life,
there really is no signs of faith.
there really is no signs of faith.
The
only way is ‘the third way’ – into and through brokenness
Our only
hope for living the life that God has chosen for us to live, which is neither
attack nor withdrawal, is to live purposefully in what I call the third way.
This is a way of living that is intended to break us.
This way,
from the peacemaker’s perspective, is the way of brokenness, for only with God’s
help, through surrender, because we have no answer or solution we can procure
on our own, can we achieve God’s will. Surely, we have nothing of ourselves to offer
God in terms of piety.
Through brokenness is the way
of discerning and doing God’s will.
of discerning and doing God’s will.
Even as we
experience conflict, and are tempted to react aggressively, or retreat into
withdrawal, which is its own form of passive aggression, God offers us a third
way.
This third
way is nothing we can work out. It’s nothing that we can formulise. It’s
nothing we can control. And it simply comes about through surrender, and it is
given to us as a mystery, even as we figuratively fall to our knees and bark, ‘Lord,
help me!’
It’s only when we’re broken,
by realising the folly of reacting in our own strength,
that we redeem the strength of God,
ironically in our weakness.
by realising the folly of reacting in our own strength,
that we redeem the strength of God,
ironically in our weakness.
I have to once again
acknowledge the place of PeaceWise in my journey.
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