The Unbroken Broken

The Unbroken Broken

At no other time in my life have I encountered so many unbroken broken people. Who are they? They are misfits, those who feel rejected by the church because they are different. Many of them have fallen on the stones of religion, legalism, and unjust judgement by others. They feel unwanted, thrown on the garbage heap with other non-conformists.

They are broken, but they are also unbroken in the sense that thy will never give up.

The pain others inflict upon them builds in them a resolve to keep going, to find their place in God’s plan, and to fulfill their eternal destiny.

They try to conform, but they can’t because doing so would be hypocritical, a sort of betrayal of what they understand to be real.

They can’t seem to follow the rules, to fit in.

They know through years of rejection by the establishment that they are not part of the “in crowd.”

The church does not understand or accept non-conformists, so they try to fix them, to make them conform to accepted church ideologies. But in their hearts, they do not want to be fixed. It is the church, they feel that needs to be fixed.

This pressure to conform, is an irritation, an insult. At some point, they have just had enough of the religiosity they feel is ingenuine and they run . . . they run from the church.

Jesus had a special love and understanding for the unbroken broken. He sought them out much to the indignation of society’s “in crowd.”

Zacheus was one of those individuals. He had such a hunger to see Jesus that he climbed up in a tree in order to get above the heads of the crowd. Jesus called to him and told him to get down because He was going to his house that very day.

Zacheus was a tax collector and the Jews hated tax collectors. “Why in the world are you going to associate with Zacheus, one of the hated and despised?”

Zacheus was quite wealthy, due in part to collecting unsanctioned money above and beyond what the law required. In plain language, he was crooked!

Ah, but Zacheus had a hunger for God. When Jesus came to his house, he eagerly volunteered that he would give half of his income to the poor and that he would repay four times what he had collected unlawfully. Zacheus was repentant and Jesus knew his heart before he even stepped foot in his house.

Many of the unbroken have been rejected by their peers . . . over and over, until they are nearly unable to trust anyone. In relationships, they are continually expecting betrayal and rejection because that is what thy have experienced all of their lives.

Jesus is looking for the unbroken broken. Why? They are not full of themselves, boasting of all their accomplishments. They are not self-made individuals. Rather they are hurting and broken. They don’t fit in, and they experience hurt from the “successful people” who continually look down on them, judge them, and give them unwanted advice.

Consider the unlikely people God has used throughout the narrative of the Bible. Jacob was a schemer and a liar until he wrestled all night with the angel who put his hip out of joint. This personal encounter with God changed him forever.

Rahab was a prostitute who is in the lineage of Jesus. Judah was a terrible sort of fellow. He had sex with his daughter-in-law who was posing as a prostitute. He was going to burn her to death but could not when she exposed the evil he had done. Yet Judah is a key figure in the lineage of Jesus. Jesus is often called in the Bible “the Lion of Judah.”

What does this say? It says that God seldom chooses the successful of this world to do His work. Rather he chooses the unbroken broken because of all the pain they have suffered at the hands of the “in crowd.” Jesus said he came to save the outcasts, those who needed a physician. The unbroken broken understand outcasts. They can understand them and minister to them, because they are an outcast themselves.

King David was an adulterer and a murderer.

Jehu was a rough, uncouth warrior that God used to finish off the wicked queen, Jezebel.

Peter denied Jesus three times. The apostle Paul murdered Christians until Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and chose him to take the gospel message to the world.

The list goes on and on.

Why does God use such imperfect people? Broken people have discovered their weakness and tendency to fail.

Their weak places, over and over again, hand them over to the sin they cannot overcome.

They know their frame, that they came from dust. When God uses them in a mighty way, they know it was not because of their own genius or ability. They know that if it were not for the favor and love of God upon them, their lives would not amount to much.

The one who brags and lifts himself up is the one God disdains and says,”Oh, you think yo are really something. Well, we’ll see about that . . .” and He allows them to fall face first in the dirt.”

Pride goes before a fall. If God’s hand is on someone and they began to think they are really something, without exception, they will take a great fall. The Bible says, “Pride goes before fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

God, rather looks for the unbroken broken . . . those who are deeply flawed and they know it.

My brothers, think what sort of people you are, whom God has called. Few of you are men of wisdom, by any human standard; few are powerful or highly born. Yet, to shame the wise. God has chosen what the world counts folly, and to shame what is strong, God has chosen what the world counts weakness. He has chosen things low and contemptable, mere nothings to overthrow the existing order. And so there is no place for human pride in the presence of God.

1 Corinthians 1: 26-29 (The New English Bible)

ADVENTURES WITH GEORGE AND LORRAINE

We have been calling on schools to book assemblies because it’s that season. I have found through the years that the best approach by far is to show up at the schools and ask to see the principal for five or ten minutes. When I explain that we represent an assembly speaker, over half the time we get in to see the principal. A friend who has booked assemblies says that it takes 100 phone calls a day to book one or two assemblies. That’s an exercise in frustration. I have gotten exponentially higher percentages by showing up in person.

So we have been calling on schools. Most show initial interest. Then comes the “babysitting,” for lack of a better word. School schedules are crammed these days, so the delays come because administrators usually don’t get to the point of actually making a decision . . . which means we have to continually call on them until they have arrived at a decision. A friend of mine, a seasoned salesman says, “Eighty percent of the sales are made by 20 percent of the sales force on the eighth call or after.” Do we have to make eight calls to secure a date for the assembly? Sometimes, and sometimes more than that.

Bottom line, it is a time consuming task to book assemblies. We have a lot of interest; actually not one of the schools we have called on so far has given us a hard “no,” perhaps because Lorraine and I have been spending a lot of time in prayer.

Ironically, as I am in the middle of writing this article, I just received a call from the Bug-O-Nay-Ge-Shig, a Native American school near Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and they confirmed an assembly date for November 2. This will be our fourth time back to “The Bug School.”

Our speaker, Jesse Paul Smith, brings a life changing message of hope to students. We urge you to join us in praying for many assemblies this school year.

We invite you to consider making a contribution to help us with expenses as we travel to visit schools.

Help us impact the lives of our young people today!

Thank you for your support.

In His Service,

George and Lorraine Halama

ALL CONTRIBUTIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE

Photo designed and taken by Lorraine