I remember in college, one of the shows I watched before class was “To Tell the Truth.” Have you seen it? You have three people on stage. One of them is the “real” person, and the other two are impostors. The job of the impostors is to try to convince the judges that they are the real one.
It seems like “brokenness” has become quite the buzzword in the Christian scene. There are books about it, songs about it, and we talk about it, lifting it high on a pedestal.
But recently, I realized brokenness isn’t what I thought it was.
Outside Broken
Over the years I’ve come to view brokenness as representative of our state when we go through hard times. We share ourselves honestly, and within our stories emerge this “broken beautiful.”
Don’t get me wrong; I still believe all of that can be and is true for us. Sharing our pain and allowing others to see our real struggles is a critical part of not only our own healing but also allowing God’s glory to shine through us. And it’s imperative for genuine relationship with others.
But God has opened my eyes to a different kind of brokenness — dare I call it a more biblical definition? Maybe a starting point? I’m not quite sure yet how to label it.
Inside Broken
What I do know is this: it’s easy for me to share my “broken” in some areas — especially when those areas don’t have to do with personal sin, unsurrendered areas of my life, heart issues, and glaring flaws.
For example, it cost me nothing to share with you very candidly all I was thinking and feeling when I lost my mom to cancer. All of that happened in my “outside” world to some degree.
But to come face to face with my brokenness as a person — on the inside — well, that’s a whole other story.
During our church’s revival last month, God brought to mind some specific areas of sin — heart sin — that I had been running from.
But once I accepted what God showed me with confession and repentance, something amazing happened.
Broken and Free
I felt more free than ever. No longer did I need to try to be “good” by my own efforts, then run away in denial when that didn’t work. Instead, coming to God in humility I found love, grace, and hope.
Then I shared my specific sins with my friend. Admitting and confessing it out loud (James 5:16) took the final shackle off my wrist.
My ongoing prayer has been that I would stay broken. Paradoxically, it’s the best place to be! FREE!
To listen to the sermon from our revival on brokenness I referred to above, click here.
This post is an excerpt of my personal “Coffee Talk” e-mails I send every other Wednesday. To receive them in your e-mail inbox, subscribe below: