A few weeks ago, my son broke his leg in a biking accident. [They say you shouldn’t let a 7 yr. old have his own Harley, but I thought the warnings overstated]
Hearing the news at a public phone in Paris, there was nothing my wife or I could do apart from reassure him that we would be home as soon as we could and try to encourage him as best we could.
Back home, we got him to an orthopedic surgeon who cast his leg from toes to hip, and told him to come back in two weeks for a more mobile, walking cast.
His cast had become most often an impediment and a frustration. But at just the right time, around just the right people, it became somewhat a source of pride to show off, have admired and signed.
When we told him on Sunday that he needed to get ready for church, he began to complain and even cry. “Why?” we thought. Surely he would want to see his friends, and have them see his cast.
It turns out, his cast was a source of embarrassment. Whether from the circumstances surrounding it, or his limited mobility, it was an embarrassment. He didn’t want anyone to see his broken condition.
At that moment I wondered about those with spiritual ailments. Those who know they are broken on the inside; those who have not yet turned to Christ for cleansing, and perhaps even those who have.
These broken places, at times and in the right company may be sources of pride. But when it comes to stepping foot inside the doors of a church, how many are so embarrassed that others will see their broken-ness that they don’t dare go.
“They’ll laugh at me.”
“They’ll stare.”
“They know.”
How do we, the Church, demonstrate the healing that can be found, regardless of the broken-ness that exists? How do we effectively let it be known that in accordance with God’s desires for our holiness, our worship gatherings are places to be healed, bound up, reset and made stronger in Christ by His Word, His Spirit and His people?
Maybe in the constant admission – better said – corporate confession that we are all broken, and in need of a Healer. Maybe in the appropriate telling of the depths of our broken-ness before we met our Healer. I wonder how often God’s glory is short-changed when we limit our pre-Christ stories to “I wasn’t living the way I should and now because of Jesus, I am.” Or even – “I was a sinner and now I’m going to heaven.”
The broken need to know that Christ has healed the lust-filled from porn, the addicted from their addictions, the gossip from slander, the covetous from their idols and the proud from themselves.
When the broken see that Christ has healed their form of broken-ness; and when they see it through a gracious people who are truly changed perhaps they will disregard the embarrassment of their crutches and come to Him.
