Brokenness

BROKENNESS
by
M. Prior
Crown College
 
    The classic question of “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” has many relatives in this world: the tree or the pine cone, the shopping mall or the female and Heaven or bacon?  Though these might be trivial, another relative is the question of a broken person or a broken system.  As long as there have been people in this world, it seems that there have been both.  Upon closer inspection though, the question is decidedly put to rest when one ponders this from a Biblical perspective and Genesis 3: 17-19:
And to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (English Standard Version)
The result of this curse is considered the doctrine of man, where all of mankind experiences this curse and therefore, all of mankind is broken.  This leaves little room for debate, but is not so simple as man’s brokenness takes many forms in its universal application.  Though every person is broken, each person’s brokenness is interconnected and causes broken systems to further break others.
    The Bible is clear: “... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23, ESV).  As a result of this fall, stemming from Adam’s sin as mentioned above, brokenness abounds.  As Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert speak on the view of those who are poor, they state that “Poor people typically talk in terms of shame, inferiority, powerlessness, humiliation, fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation and voicelessness.” (Corbett and Fikkert, 2009)  Behind these adjectives lie broken people.  They see themselves as wanting and incomplete.  Through their own sin and the sin of Adam, they are outside of a right relationship with God. (Corbett and Fikkert, 2009)  When C.S. Lewis described the doctrine of man in one of his works, he noted the difference between declaring brokenness as Corbett and Fikkert describe and a more important step of perceiving brokenness: “When we merely say that we are bad, the ‘wrath’ of God seems a barbarous doctrine; as soon as we perceive our badness, it appears inevitable, a mere corollary from God’s goodness.” (Lewis, 1996)  This statement does take a leap in assuming that those interviewed above were not truly perceptive of their own badness.  This also assumes that the cause of the feelings listed is self, not a system.  From a Biblical perspective, this assumption can be made.  Even Corbett and Fikkert would agree with this initial brokenness as they describe Alisa Collins: “While her worldview, values and behavior clearly contributed to her material poverty.” (2009)  The fact is that through sin, each man, woman and child is broken.  For some, this brokenness is in material poverty, others relational poverty and for all, it is in the form of lacking a right relationship with God.  As all are missing this right relationship, all are broken.
    When one broken person meets another broken person, falls in love, gets married and has broken children, brokenness abounds.  When one broken person attempts to “fix” another broken person with their own brokenness, the other person gets a stick in the eye.  “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:4, ESV)  At best, this can take the form of improper assistance: “If we treat only the symptoms or if we misdiagnose the underlying problem, we will not improve their situation, and we might actually make their lives worse.” (Corbett and Fikkert, 2009)  However, a sad and more prevalent result of brokenness interacting with brokenness can be seen in the second half of the assessment of Alisa Collins: “... as an African-American woman growing up in a ghetto, she is also a victim of powerful systemic forces that have dealt her a different set of cards than those received by most North Americans.” (2009)  These forces were the result of a broken system, led by broken people not seeking the well-being of other broken people, but their own well-being.  As seen in how the ghettos of Chicago were formed to begin with:  “Using a set of policies that both explicitly and implicitly discriminated against African Americans, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) then began to offer subsidized mortgages that enabled millions of Caucasians to purchase homes in the suburbs.” (2009)  Alisa Collins was further broken, shamed and humiliated by the actions of others.  Thankfully, her story turned around with her own dedication and the dedication of another.
    Looking at any situation, it is usually apparent to see how a myriad of broken peoples’ broken stories can combine to create and further enforce the brokenness of one person or a group of people.  As I was rushing home last weekend, I drove by a man standing on a street corner holding a cardboard sign.  Instead of the usual claims to military service or a dependent family, the sign simply stated: “It’s a long story...”  Never before have I wished there was not a pressing deadline on me (a departure for a wedding my wife and I were photographing) so that I might have turned around and done nothing more than listen to the long story.  I am certain that the tale would have many characters and many flaws, many people who had assisted in the downturn of this man’s life, especially himself.  My only prayer is that the story is not finished, and that the man’s dedication and the dedication of another would help build the man up and restore his relationships.  Alisa Collins found this in the form of a school principal who dedicated herself, perhaps divinely, to helping her say her brokenness, perceive her brokenness and then dedicate herself to overcoming her brokenness.  Overcoming brokenness requires relationship, with others and, more importantly, with God.  This is the determining factor of one person rising above a broken system and their own brokenness.
 
References

Corbett, S., & Fikkert, B. (2009). When helping hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor-- and yourself. Chicago, IL: Moody.

Lewis, C. S. (1996). The problem of pain. [San Francisco], CA: HarperSanFrancisco.