Everyone is Broken

Matthew 2:15-17
15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees[b] saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?[c]”

17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

EVERY ONE IS BROKEN… Sounds tragic, I know! But I’m convinced it’s true.

Some are more broken than others, but EVERYONE is broken is some way. The good news is that the reality of our condition, does not demand that we must remain broken forever (though I’m convinced healing comes gradually over the course of a lifetime). I believe there’s a delineation that is crucial to knowing where we’re headed in life, toward healing or continual pain. I believe folks fall into one of three categories:

1) First, there are those who are BROKEN, BUT LOST IN DENIAL. These folks are screwed up, make no mistake, they simply can’t accept the truth that they are screwed up. They are like men or women with cancer in their bones who would rather live in pain and suffering (eventually death) rather than hear the prognosis–”ma’am you have cancer”. The truth is just too painful for them to hear. Folks in this category strive to convince themselves, God and others that they’ve got it all together, when in reality they haven’t taken the first step toward wholeness. They cannot look their brokenness in the eye. They cannot speak of it. They cannot bring it into the light for healing. They wear masks and project illusions that they mistakenly believe conceal the deep wounded-ness of their souls. But many of us do see, even if they do not. Who falls into this category? Probably the person who is taking exception to the opening premise of this essay which, again, stated: “Everyone is Broken”. Folks lost in denial are the first to object, saying… “No, we aren’t. We’re fine. Not “everyone” is broken, just “some people” are. You may be broken, but not everyone… I mean, look at me! Aren’t I pretty great?… *now with their insecurity mounting* Well, aren’t I? Don’t you think I’m great?” These folks are a ticking time bomb, sooner or later they’re going to break-down and cease to function, but they will get by for the time being.

2) Then there are those who are BROKEN AND AWARE, BUT TRAPPED IN BLAME. These folks at least have some semblance of their deep wounds. They know they are incomplete, perhaps unstable; but they cannot, or will not, take responsibility for the state of their souls. Instead of owning their life and assuming charge over it, by leading it to fullness, they choose instead to blame others. Indeed, rather than focusing on healing, they become fixated on blame. These are often very angry people. To give an analogy, imagine a person who has been struck by a reckless driver. You arrive on the scene of the accident and find them yelling and screaming, at times raging at the other driver. Which would be acceptable in the situation, if it were not for the fact that they have left an infant trapped in their vehicle. They are obsessed with the injury not with the life at stake. You watch as the driver cycles through various emotions and behaviors from sulking, weeping and wailing in despair to absolute rage and violence against the offender. Minutes turn to hours, hours to days and days to years, all the while you stand as the silent witness watching as they blame God, others, even themselves for the wreakage. Seldom, however, do they ever make any real effort to rescue the infant trapped in the clutches of death. This is a picture of one trapped in blame. The greater tragedy is that they are the infant trapped in the vehicle… perishing through a lifetime. Because they are caught in this state and have not pressed forward, they have yet to take the first real step to healing and wholeness.

3) Finally, there are those who are BROKEN, BUT STRIVING FOR HEALTH AND HEALING. These folks are hurting you can sometimes see it in their eyes, sometimes hear it in their throats, and often feel it in their prayers. If they have cancer, they’re the patients enduring the chemotherapy, the radiation treatments and the surgeries necessary to heal. So, again, they’re hurting… but on the positive side, they are healing as well. I have a few friends in my life at the moment who I know are definitely out of the wilderness of denial, through the trappings of blame and are pushing through the trials of healing to a better place. These friends have given me the hope and the courage I’ve lacked for far too long, to press into the healing phase of the soul. I think I’m still sometimes caught between blame and healing, but I know my trajectory and it is definitely toward the destination of wholeness.

What about your trajectory?

Can I recommend a few books to anyone open to it?
“Boundaries” by Henri Cloud
“The Emotionally Healthy Church” by Peter Scazzero

Searching for Common Ground

While on vacation with my family this past week we had the opportunity to visit Cades Cove in the Smokey Mountains National Park.  Cades Cove is an early American settlement, once occupied by the Cherokee Indians before the treaty of Calhoun signed in 1819 that removed the Indians to the Oklahoma territory.  At its peak Cades Cove boasted a population of 671 settlers; this was between 1820 and 1850. While there I had the opportunity to visit three very old, very ancient (by American history standards) churches from this era.  These churches were fascinating on multiple levels. I was particularly struck by one aspect of their design which was their simplicity.  Their construction spoke of their culture, their role, their place in history. Each church had a connected cemetery.  Many died young in the 1800’s.  The majority of the graves were dedicated to small children.  Survival was likely the main agenda 200 years ago.  So, in life and in worship they undoubtedly spent the better part of the day and week in work and labor rather than in play and leisure.  In contrast, we have more time on our hands, more food on our plates, more living space and more leisure opportunities than we can spare.
Sitting in the pews I pondered what worship must have been like in these churches.  What motivated the people of this Appalachian region to seek after God?  How did they go about doing this?  What did it mean to them to “attend church” each Sunday? What would it have been like to be called into the ministry during this era in American history?

Obviously, we worship the same God as these settlers did; however, one knows instinctively that the way we worship today differs in countless ways from the way they worshiped two centuries ago.  Given their lifestyle, one would suspect that the church focused far less on entertainment and attraction than on the most basic elements of the Christian faith.  I could not imagine them performing drama in church on Sunday for instance, or hosting a dinner theater, a car show (a horse show maybe!) or creating a youth or young adult outreach separate from the regular Sunday worship.  I do not mean to suggest that one era is better than the other, after all, I am highly invested in the modern era, but only that they are different.

Having considered the “many differences” between us, I also found myself grasping after our similarities.  We obviously have less in common with our ancestors than we’d care to admit with regard to life, family, mortality and leisure.  But does our faith unite us?  Is there something in the person of Jesus Christ that we share in common?  And more to the point of this post, are there certain practices in the church that we still engage in today that we share in common with them?

My bottom-line conclusion was this:  America has changed and the church has changed with it.
This reality begs the question: “What have we gained and what have we lost in over 200 years of development and evolution in the church and in culture?”