The Lost Art of Brokenness (Part 2)

One of the reasons I love the Word of God so much is because it is incredibly real. Throughout the Bible, we read of men and women whose dirty laundry is exposed for the whole world to see. It would seem there is no other reason for God to do this, unless He wanted us to learn from their lives, and to see that life and circumstances are not always neat and clean. When we read their stories, we find encouragement in God’s ability to take their dirty laundry, wash it, and hang it on the line for the whole world to marvel at His gracious, cleansing power.

The apostle Paul, who knew by experience the cleansing of his dirty laundry, wrote in Philippians 2:12-13:

“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”

As Paul grew in his relationship with Jesus, he acknowledged the truth that he could not ‘work out’ his salvation in his own strength, because he wasn’t the source of it. What a crucial truth we all need to realize in our own lives. God, as the Source, is at ‘work in’ us, energizing and creating the power and desire to ‘work out’ His will, and to do His good pleasure. The more we submit to His rule and reign in our lives and cooperate with the Holy Spirit, the more we see the ‘working out’ of His will that will ultimately bring Him the greatest satisfaction and joy.

I believe Paul’s ‘working out’ his own salvation with fear and trembling characterized his vulnerability and transparency. He wasn’t afraid to hang out his dirty laundry, or share where he had come from. His immediate struggles were not hidden either, as he knew the One who washed him clean, would do the same for them.

For me, Paul knew the art of brokenness. You can track it throughout his writings to the many churches he was overseeing at the time. He had every right to be a “know-it-all” with his religious credentials, but he chose to demonstrate he knew “none-of-it” saying that he determined not to know anything among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This spiritual leader admits to the Corinthian church that he was with them in weakness, in fear and in much trembling. He didn’t use persuasive words of human wisdom in his speaking and preaching to them, rather in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Why? So that their faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:1-5).

It’s amazing how God’s kingdom operates opposite to the world we live in. I call them the paradoxical principles of God’s kingdom. This one being: power coming out of weakness; wholeness coming out of brokenness. So much of the world was reached with the good news of Jesus because Paul was willing to allow God’s power to be demonstrated out of his weakness. Now thousands of years later, we’re reading his letters and finding our wholeness in Christ because he was willing to be broken.

I can testify to this in my own life on numerous occasions. Several years ago when I was living in Harare, Zimbabwe I was going through quite an intense season of brokenness. God was highlighting issues in my heart that were not becoming of a child of His. In the midst of my brokenness over my sin, God said I would be writing a story about that part of my journey. I out rightly refused, saying it was already too painful going through the process, let alone writing about it. The Holy Spirit, in His gentlemanly way, nudged me in the direction of writing notes on scrap pieces of paper, and sure enough in time, I could see clearly enough to write a parable about my journey. The story “Hand-Tailored” became a play, which God used to minister to those watching. Now, I have included it in my book “The Treasure Within” and it’s still being used to challenge and encourage the readers on their journey with Jesus. Yes, it’s true, power does come out of our weakness and wholeness does come out of our brokenness!

The Lost Art of Brokenness (Part 1)

I joined Youth With A Mission (YWAM) as a full-time volunteer staff member in 1996. One of the schools we offer to anyone who wants “To know God and make Him known,” which is YWAM’s motto, is a five to six-month Discipleship Training School (DTS). I did my DTS in Scotland in 1992, where I encountered God in a way that immersed me into a relationship with Him that I hadn’t known since receiving Jesus into my life 21 years previous. God would use the teachings I was receiving to expose areas of my heart that weren’t aligned to His nature and character. I was to discover that the root of my misdemeanours was pride. Now, a lot of us who have received Jesus as our Saviour would rightfully say it took humility and brokenness over our sin in order for us to come to know Him in the first place. Yes it did, but this should not be the only time we humble ourselves. In fact, I believe brokenness should be a lifestyle. Our spirits have been saved, but our souls (mind, will and emotions) are being saved.

I staffed my first DTS in 1996 in Colorado Springs, CO. I well remember a young man on staff, I’ll call Mark, who would regularly confess in front of the staff members, and at times the school, those areas where he had fallen short of the glory of God, both in word and deed. The first few times caught people’s attention, but when this became a regular occurrence, people would jokingly say something like, “Mark, what are you going to confess today?!?” His brokenness became the abnormal and the despised, while our lack of brokenness became the norm and the accepted. Why would the attribute and attitude of this young man be etched on my mind 18 years later if it weren’t something that I admired in him? With weeklong teachings on “Openness and Brokenness” and other discipleship topics, as DTS staff or leader I, too, would find myself in an attitude of brokenness before the staff and students. Since those years, God has had me in seasons of brokenness where He shuts down ministry and activity that have the potential of keeping me from seeing the pride that still lurks in my heart. As painful as it is to be unraveled before a Holy God, I am so grateful that He loves me enough not to allow me to remain where I am in my heart.

I cannot ignore verses like, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6) and “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). As far as I can see in the Bible, brokenness is to be the norm rather than the abnormal. It is an attribute and attitude that is admired and acceptable to God.

If you’re wondering if you’re broken or not, perhaps the following  “Signs of Brokenness” will help lead you in the right direction:

§  All rights surrendered

§  Willing to be out of control

§  Are overwhelmed with the sense of your own spiritual need

§  Are compassionate and forgiving

§  Esteem others better than yourself

§  Have a dependent spirit; recognize your need for others

§  Are willing to yield the right to be right

§  Willing to be misunderstood

§  Willing to love and serve others at your own expense

§  Accept personal responsibility and admit when you are wrong

§  Receive criticism with a humble and open spirit

§  Are concerned about being real – what matters is not what others think, but what God knows – willing to die to your reputation

§  Willing to be open, transparent and vulnerable with God and others as He directs

§  Are grieved over the root of your sin

§  Walk in the light

§  Have a continual attitude of brokenness and repentance

§  Express your need for the Holy Spirit

§  Are ready to build up and affirm others

§  Obey God out of love and delight and not out of obligation or duty

§  Don’t perform for God, but are actively letting Christ manifest His life through you

§  Willing to fail, be weak and rejected by man

§  Trusting in God’s sovereign plan for your life and resting in the details of how it will unfold

Ignorance is NOT bliss! (Part 3)

So why do you think we remain ignorant? Permit me to share with you why I think this is the case.

A short time after moving to South Africa, I went into a local Five Rand store and overheard two young men speaking Shona (a local language from Zimbabwe). When they had finished their conversation, one walked away and the other continued stocking the shelf. I turned and asked the one that had remained behind, “Are you from Zimbabwe?” He replied, “Yes.” He asked why I was asking and I told him I overheard him speaking Shona to his friend and recognized the language, as I had lived there for ten years. It was a very short conversation, but for some reason he wanted to tell me he had touched real diamonds with his own hands while he was in Zimbabwe. I can’t remember my response, but this brief and seemingly insignificant conversation remained with me. I felt God was using it to point out a very important treasure or insight. Just like this young man held a diamond in his hand—touching it, carefully examining it, seeing its incredible value—we, too, are touching, examining and looking at what has eternal value. This young man had in his possession something of incredible value; yet, it did not help change his position or status, evidenced by the fact he was working in a Five Rand store (R5 is approximately 50 US cents) in Cape Town, South Africa.

As Christians, we have the Greatest Treasure within us; yet, many of us live without accessing the wealth and the One who lives within. We are often satisfied with little or a counterfeit. This Treasure within is doing nothing to help change our lives. Why didn’t possessing that diamond change the young man’s life? The problem wasn’t the diamond. The problem was the fact the young man did not own the land in which he found the diamond. The “source” of the diamond didn’t belong to him; therefore, the worth of the diamond made no difference to him! The same is true for us as sons and daughters of God. We know the Source of all that has been given to us; yet, we don’t allow Him to change us, because, for the most part, we don’t value Him. Proverbs 23:23 says, “Buy the truth and do not sell it, also wisdom and instruction and understanding.” I believe the Word of God is, in many ways, like the land in which the treasure is found. We try to possess the Treasure without first investing in the land—the Word of God. So, has the Word of God failed us, or have we failed the Word of God? In my opinion, we have failed the Word of God, because despite coming into regular contact with the truths of the Scriptures, we don’t allow these truths and treasures to make an eternal impact. Why? Perhaps we don’t value the Bible, as we should. (Taken from the book, “The Treasure Within,” by Kathy Gooch).

I believe that we will not come out of our ignorance unless we invest time in the Word of God. Within it contains the answers to every area of our lives on individual, corporate, national and international levels. I also believe that the more we search out the whole counsel of God, throughout the Scriptures, the less likely we will be prone to wander from the truth. And the less likely we will take and use Scripture out of its overall context.

Around the same time I heard the phrase, “Eradicate Bible poverty and increase Bible engagement” the Lord reminded me of a phrase my Senior Pastor had said, “Those who know ‘why’ have the advantage over those who know ‘how’.” In other words, let’s not be satisfied with knowing ‘how’ to do something, (i.e. prayer, worship, quoting Scripture, etc.) but let’s know ‘why’ the Word says we should.

May we become like the Bereans who Paul went to preach to in Acts 17:11. They didn’t take the Word at face value, but searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether what they were being told was true. Ignorance was NOT bliss for them, and may it NOT be for us!  

Ignorance is NOT bliss! (Part 2)

“Ignorance is bliss” is a common proverb used to mean that as long as you remain unaware of something, then whatever you are unaware of can’t hurt or affect you, for good or bad. I am of the belief that it is the very things we are unaware of that will affect us, and those around us.

Like I said in the previous blog, I was ignorant of what kings and those in authority were NOT meant to multiply and so I believed, as most of us have, that Solomon was an exemplary leader. We possibly think this because we looked at whom he had influenced, what he had achieved (i.e. The building of the Temple), and what he had amassed in wealth as being indicative of greatness. It seems our own ignorance of the whole counsel of God had us focussing on what God doesn’t focus on. He focusses on whether someone was obedient to His original instructions, and remained faithful in the position he was placed. In Solomon’s case, it was to selflessly serve the people God had entrusted to him.

In Acts 20:27, Paul says to the church leaders in Ephesus that he had not shunned to declare to them the whole counsel of God. He was concerned that after his departure there would be those who would seek to draw them away from the truth. He knew that if they didn’t know the overriding purpose and counsel of God, throughout the Scriptures, they would easily be misled. Even to Timothy, his spiritual son, he gave him the charge to present himself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, and who rightly divides the word of truth. Paul was, in essence, saying, “Ignorance in NOT bliss and what you are unaware of will affect you, and those around you.”

I remember two years ago the same YWAM leader came to speak at one of our meetings. I approached him afterwards to thank him for the Sourceview Bible he had formulated that I was using. During our conversation he mentioned a phrase that really spoke to me. He said there was a move to “Eradicate Bible poverty and increase Bible engagement.” It was after this that I began running Bible studies with the young adults I was ministering amongst. This wasn’t only to help eradicate their Bible poverty, but my own! I have facilitated many studies since then and each time I participate in one, I become more and more aware of my continued ignorance of the Word of God.  

So, why do you think we remain ignorant? (I’ll share more of my thoughts on that in my next blog)