Five Minute Friday – Broken
(Disclaimer to my readers – Today I link up with fellow writers. This is a challenge. A group to join. A prompting by another woman I like to just.sit.down. every Friday and write for only five minutes. That’s it. Which is roughly how long it takes for me to write my normal first sentence. Ahem. So, lest some of you start dancing joyfully with glee that my post is shorter – it is advised that thy shouldn’t get thyself used to it. In Jesus’ Name.) READ MORE HERE.
Five Minute Friday – BROKEN.
GO.
I have to be honest with you –
I live in a rich, white bubble.
It’s true. And, I don’t mean to sound racist or prejudice or anything else ugly. I’m just saying…it is what it is. If you were to stand on the street corner two miles from my house, at the major intersection of two roads – you would see more luxury cars than five-year-old cars. You would see more educated people than uneducated people. Most of them would be white. ALL of them would be upper class, or at least upper-middle class. Some of them are even in the super dooper upper class.
There is not ‘bad’ area of town. There is no crime. There is no real glimpse into the outside world.
So, unless I am purposeful and drive thirty minutes in any direction – I live my daily commute (aka. to the carpool line, Wal-Mart, preschool and church) then I would never ever see the poor.
But, oh, my friend, how that doesn’t mean I don’t see the broken.
The broken are rich, too.
The broken are white, too.
The broken are everywhere.
Withint the last year, my world got doneflippedupsidedown and I spun out of control. (Thanks a lot Jesus…and Jen Hatmaker)
But once my head leveled off, I found myself. My true self. I found the place God wanted me. Not selling everything I own and moving to the ghetto (my initial response) and also not sluffing it off and calling too radical.
I found the place He would have me be.
And this place is acknowledging the broken everywhere I go. To the salon. To the homeless church. To the elite boutique to use the bathroom, clearly. To the person next to me at church. To the man sweeping the floors at my kid’s overprivleged public school.
Brokenness is everywhere.
This was proven to me today in a large way.
Months ago – amidst my beloved tailspin, I wrote a blog about a man I met named Mr. John Tucker. I hadn’t thought about him in months, so I count today a blessing for the sheer reminder to pray for him. But, today, a man commented on my blog post from last October — and I’ll admit, he was a hata.
He judged me, criticized me, and bashed me for my act of kindness to Mr. John Tucker. Why?
Because Mr. John Tucker is homeless.
Oh ya, did I not mention that?
He was probably on drugs. He smelled of feces. He perhaps conned us out of that $20 that day. And, he may even be into all types of illegal things. But, maybe not. I don’t know. You know Who does? The One who made him.
My Jesus.
The same Jesus who broke His body for me. For Mr. John Tucker. AND for the hata on my blog.
The rage he spoke about this homeless man he’d never met – reminded this rich, white girl of one thing.
Brokenness is everywhere.
You can choose to serve the broken wealthy. You can choose to serve the broken poor. But, choose something.
So, I ask you…
Who is more broken? Who is more poor?
The man with nothing to his name, and no worth to so many people?
Or the man who judges him and casts him aside?
I think I know that answer.
Do you?
caroline holzberger 
So true! Brokenness has no boundaries, it comes in every color and size, and all the broken need a mender, healer, they / we need the maker of heaven and earth to dwell within.
Amen, friend! So true!!
So thought provoking! Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you! I am happy you visited. God bless –
I LOVE this! You speak with truth where not many dare to go, but I love it. So many times, I want to stop and help that homeless man but I never do. You have inspired me, my friend. Thank you for this reminder!
Thank u! May God get the glory! Any study of the life and service of Jesus shows that He reached out to and loved on the marginalized, the outcasts, the lepers, the ‘unworthy’ – so I figure, if He did it, so should I. It’s really not rocket science. But, I’m amazed how so many Christians can justify NOT serving like this. I know I did for so long. No more. Oh, and go read Isaiah 58. Wow!! 🙂 thanks for stopping by again, new friend, bless you!!
very very true!
Thank u, friend! May God speak His Truth, not mine. Love, love.
SO true!!! A while back God convicted me that He did not call me to judge and say I can’t give this person $ or whatever because they might use it to buy drugs, alcohol, whatever. He called me to help and serve “the least of these” because whenever I was doing that, I was helping Him (not that I am any better… in reality, my problems might not be as obvious, but I am messed up too). So now, whenever we see someone asking for help, we try to at least do something (even if it means giving them my kids’ goldfish out of the diaper bag because that’s all I have with me).
Good for you and way to speak the truth!
He has actually called us ALL to that. (Matthew 7:2, John 8:7, Luke 21 and many more) Not only that, but He has called us all to serving the least of these. (Matthew 25, Isaiah 58) American Christians as a whole (this is a huge generalization) do not WANT to live this out. They want to dress trendy, go to church, tithe and be.done.with.it. Polite? Yes. Honest. Sure. But, humble and servant minded like all the time? Not so sure. Maybe over Thanksgiving break or at a soup kitchen at Christmas. Perhaps. A precious friend who runs a church for the homeless and working poor (www.thefeet.org) opened my eyes so much. When asked (by stupid me) “What can we do for you? What do you need most this Thanksgiving time of year?” She said immediaetly – “Come the day after Thanksgiving when everyone else is gone again.” Wow. Oh that more of us (myself included!!) would stand up and say WAKE UP, CHURCH. Let’s all prove Ghandi wrong when he said “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” I love a quote I read in a book – (from my best memory) “It is not about bringing ourselves down lowly to serve, while our hearts and minds stay higher up, waiting for our return. That is just charity. It is about realizing that we, too, are lowly ourselves.” Amen and Amen! 🙂
All we are called to do is trust God and be obedient to what He is telling us to do, and that’s exactly what you did with John Tucker! God doesn’t need us to sit and comb over the details of whether or not we should have, is that person worthy, or am I enabling him/her. He just wants us to listen and obey! We may never know what happens to the person we helped and that’s ok! Don’t let the haters get you down, pray for heart change in them! Jesus didn’t just hang with those who followed laws and were “like able”. I believe He would have shown kindness to John Tucker as well. As for the hater, he loves Him too! Praying that story sits with that man and he questions his own response! May he never be on the receiving end, but if he were to be, I pray he’d also come into contact with someone like you!
I copied this from the other comments, because I am basically repeating myself but I wanted to make sure you saw it. 🙂 Love you friend!!! —He has actually called us ALL to that. (Matthew 7:2, John 8:7, Luke 21 and many more) Not only that, but He has called us all to serving the least of these. (Matthew 25, Isaiah 58) American Christians as a whole (this is a huge generalization) do not WANT to live this out. They want to dress trendy, go to church, tithe and be.done.with.it. Polite? Yes. Honest. Sure. But, humble and servant minded like all the time? Not so sure. Maybe over Thanksgiving break or at a soup kitchen at Christmas. Perhaps. A precious friend who runs a church for the homeless and working poor (www.thefeet.org) opened my eyes so much. When asked (by stupid me) “What can we do for you? What do you need most this Thanksgiving time of year?” She said immediaetly – “Come the day after Thanksgiving when everyone else is gone again.” Wow. Oh that more of us (myself included!!) would stand up and say WAKE UP, CHURCH. Let’s all prove Ghandi wrong when he said “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” I love a quote I read in a book – (from my best memory) “It is not about bringing ourselves down lowly to serve, while our hearts and minds stay higher up, waiting for our return. That is just charity. It is about realizing that we, too, are lowly ourselves.” Amen and Amen! 🙂
This is such a brave post…so true. We are all broken. So let’s love everyone who’s broken and trust the Healer. Thank you for sharing! Blessings. 🙂
Thank u my barefoot friend! Some think one has to be brave (stupid) to speak out boldly. Although, to be honest, I think people have to be a lot more brave (stupid) to be willing to look Jesus in the face someday and say “Oh wait, u meant what u said about serving the poor? My bad.” And while I have u…u should totally check out the book “The Barefoot Church” By Brandon Hatmaker – its awesome! As is his wife, Jen’s counterpart book, “Interrupted”. Game changers. 😉 love love