Friday, November 16, 2007

Oh, the Pain

It is common today to hear Christians talk of their "brokenness." But when you listen closely, you may discover that they are talking about their wounds, the things they have suffered, not about the evil that is in them.
Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, p. 60

4 comments:

Valerie (Kyriosity) said...

I think I use it in a way that sort of mixes those two meanings. Something broken is not functioning properly. So I use "brokenness" to refer to my consistent failures in the pursuit of obedience. And some of that brokenness is the result of wounds, or at least wounds are a significant contributing factor. I don't, of course, mean to excuse my sin or blame others for it, but to explain why some things are simply more difficult than they'd have been without the wounds.

Mikel L. Lawyer said...

If you mean something like, "I'm broken and need the grace of God to fix me, and I'm very grateful that he does fix me" I'm in agreement with you.

But Dr.'s point is that most Christians probably mean that they've been sinned against and therefore they can justify their behavior by saying they are broken.

Valerie (Kyriosity) said...

Definitely Option 1a. Still a little shaky on 1b -- the grateful part -- but working on it. One more area where I need the grace of God to fix me!

Mikel L. Lawyer said...

God is good.