More on Gospel Brokenness from Scotty Smith, in Restoring Broken Things, by Scotty Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman. If you’ve never read this one, do not delay. Full of stories, about THE BIG STORY, the grand narrative of hope Scripture tells.
But Jesus doesn’t draw attention to the broken places in our lives to humiliate us, but rather to humble us and to heal us. He gives grace to the humble, not grades. As Darlene and I watched the sun transfigure layers of decaying sediment into kaleidoscopic beauty, I got a tiny glimpse of the beauty of brokenness—a glimpse that grew to a gaze the next week. Jesus shines the light of the gospel on us both to expose our brokenness (revealing the broken places in our lives) and to bring us to brokenness, (to honesty, humility and repentance).
I call this gospel brokenness, because only the gospel of God’s grace can enable us to be completely honest about our stuff without falling into toxic shame or self-contempt. And only the gospel can humble us, gentle us and give us the power to repent… and not run away or rant . When followers of Jesus walk openly in this kind of brokenness, gospel brokenness, angels in heaven rejoice… and people without faith, or those with much cynicism about Christians, are likely to reconsider the person and work of Jesus.
Write this down… no greater beauty can be found at any point, or in any place in God’s STORY than the times when God’s people manifest gospel brokenness—for there the glory of God is revealed most clearly. This is the musical score of the restoration that Jesus has come to bring.
What does this kind of brokenness look like? It’s seen in …
