Brokenness

I was talking with a friend who is struggling through another episode of "relapse" in an ongoing addiction problem. His problem has shaped his entire life and identity.

The problem is far too complex to chronicle here but there are some principles that I think are relevant to all of us as we struggle.

How do you view yourself and the things with which you struggle?

I have seen two distinct mindsets about "sin." The most common analogy to describe how we view sin is that sin is like a backpack that we carry around. That backpack contains all of the things we struggle with - pornography, alcohol addiction, drug addiction, gluttony, etc. When those sins are powerful enough (addictions), we need to seek support and counseling to help us to "drop" or put down that backpack and move on. Until we do this, we are not truly free.

I believe that this viewpoint is wrong. I believe that all of us are broken to varying degrees. Some of us have slight cracks that have not broken all the way through and others of us have been shattered to the point that the shards of our lives have impacted those around us.

If we accept the idea that all of us are broken, it changes the approach a bit. Yes, we still must do what we can to protect the cracks from further impact. But, we must also understand that our cracks will always be with us. It's ok.

Most of the people I know that have significant struggles would gladly drop that backpack and run full-speed away. If only it were that simple!

The reality is that your life, my life (and even the lives of the seemingly well put together) is cracked and broken. Those cracks may hardly be visible for some of us and for others we may be so marred and disfigured by our brokenness that our original form is barely recognizable.

Either way, we should cherish our brokenness as the places in our lives that we must be totally dependent on the holy spirit to hold us together. We must seek ways to help hold our broken friends together rather than trying to throw stones at their fractures.

The true grace of our God is not that we are able to drop the backpack or that he can reassemble us to make the cracks invisible. The true grace is that while we lay their shattered he sees greatness and loves us fully.

If only we understood that completely...

Vince