Are You Beautifully Broken? - Bellator Christi

By: Tim Woods, B.Min. | August 28, 2023

Guaranteed?

I needed some printing while getting ready for a LEGO event recently. Instead of using my hometown print shop, I decided to try a printer in another town with a national reputation. They had a guarantee that if you submitted your artwork before 10 a.m., you would receive your product by 7 p.m. on the same day. This was on a Thursday, and I was scheduled to be in St. Louis with this product on Saturday. Even though I made my order well within their stated timeline, I received a phone call saying it would not be ready until noon on Saturday. I asked about the same-day service guarantee and was told they tried but were short-handed. Undeterred, I tried to use their establishment two more times with the same outcome. They were proud of their guarantee but did not want to back it up. Their guarantee wasn’t real.

Is It Real?

Nobody likes it when someone advertises one thing but delivers another. Especially when it comes to matters far more critical than copies. Especially when it comes to who we claim to be. We fear rejection, wanting people to see us at our best. Avoiding the possibility of others seeing what exactly is on the inside, our flaws. So, we hide our true identity and build a façade of the perfect life. Don’t believe me? Look at your social media. I am willing to bet that the photos of you are the ones that make you look good. The ones that have been taken at the best angle. That promote the lifestyle you want. The ones that don’t show that you’re broken but hide your scars. Ones that cover up the true you.

Underneath It All

The reason we do this is because we want acceptance. We think we are more attractive if we hide our faults and struggles. Fear is the enemy of transparency. If we stop pretending, we can show who we are. The truth of the matter is that we are all broken. As Paul tells us in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We all have different faults, flaws, and imperfections. We are all broken. The real question is: Are we beautifully broken?

Beautifully Broken, Indeed

A powerful reminder of what it means to be beautifully broken is found in Luke 7:37a-38. We read there how, “behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner . . . stood at [Jesus’] feet behind Him weeping; and she began to wash His feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and she kissed His feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil.” She didn’t let anything stop her from coming to Jesus. She realized that she was living a shattered life.

This woman came to a point where she gave Jesus all she had and allowed Him to put her back together. She wasn’t concerned about her flaws or blemishes. No hiding who or what she was. Her true identity was on display. All because she knew that Jesus could make her into something even more beautiful. When we refuse to continue to live behind a façade, allowing God to put our brokenness back together, we are beautifully broken.