Why Go There?

This Sunday we will be addressing the issue of living in brokenness and vulnerability from three passages - 2 Corinthians 12:8-10, Romans 7:7-8:1, and Matthew 5:3. Certainly this feels counter-intuitive to most of us. Don't we prefer wholeness to brokenness? Don't we prefer invincibility to vulnerability? Could it be that the pathway to wholeness and invincibility leads us through the valleys of brokenness and vulnerability?

The pressure to present an image of ourselves as strong and spiritually "together" hovers over most of us. What we see in the Bible however is that it presents the flaws and weaknesses of its heroes. This reminds us that "every human being on earth regardless of their gifts and strengths, is weak, vulnerable, and dependent on God and others" (Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, pg. 34).

“A theology of brokenness embraces our spiritual poverty, our questions, our doubts, our desire for love, hope and redemption, and reminds us that the stink and the beauty are all wrapped up into one.” Kathy Escobar

Mistakes are not forever, God loves us as sinners and that the task of Christianity is not to teach us how to live, but to teach us how to live again, and again, and again.

Here's a one-paragraph overview of Jenn Gaskin's sermon from Feb 1st...

God has created each and every person to be a jaw-dropping masterpiece, but our “issues” can get in the way of God’s glory being revealed in our lives. God invites us to get more in touch with our issues by beginning to notice our own super-charged responses-- either of emotions or actions, our own overly-charged communication, and our own repeated delusional ideas for a solution to our current problems. When we notice these three strains, we don’t want to ignore them AND we don’t want to give in to them or follow our emotions around. Instead, we want to listen to their signal and keep in a yielding place to God, knowing that eventually He will fulfill the desires of our hearts.

Wow.