Better than Broken

The popular Christian group Casting Crowns has recently released a song titled Broken Together. I really like the song, but at the same time it leaves me a little disappointed.

I am a big Casting Crowns fan, although they do have a tendency to come across as pretty negative from time to time. Broken Together is a beautiful song, both vocally and musically. The song is written to husbands and wives who entered marriage expecting a fairy tale, only to find out that their partner isn’t as perfect as the one in the chick flick.

The chorus says, “Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete.

Could we just be broken together?

If you could bring your shattered dreams and I’ll bring mine

Could healing still be spoken and save us?

The only way to last forever is broken together.”

I agree with the song’s premise that marriage isn’t always a fairy tale because it unites two imperfect people, so imperfection remains the result. We need to be honest about our own shortcomings and not just focus on our spouse.

I realize that embracing brokenness has become one of the battle cries of the emerging church—“We are all just beautiful broken messes!” But what is really beautiful is marriage itself, the God-ordained joining of two people in holy matrimony, symbolic of the covenant between Yahweh and mankind.

The problem of settling for broken together (the only way to last forever?) and celebrating brokenness in general is just that—it is settling. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so that we could embrace brokenness, but new, abundant life in Him (John 10:10). If anything is broken, it is the chains of sin and the old way of life that died at our conversion.

I will not boast in brokenness, but in being a blood-bought, set apart saint viewed as righteous in the eyes of my Father. This is not bragging in myself, but only in the work of Christ, who exchanged my sin (brokenness) for His righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30-31).

Paul felt the same way. Writing to the Corinthian Christians who had once practiced the vilest of immorality, the Apostle said:

“Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Paul didn’t celebrate their brokenness and say, “God understands that no one is perfect. You are all just broken people, so do your best, be broken together, and you can still go to heaven.”

Paul said they were washed, sanctified, and redeemed. Doesn’t that sound better than broken? I can hear the critics screaming about self-righteousness, but Paul didn’t give them the credit; the change was made by “the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” To Him be the glory!

We serve a God who opened the eyes of the blind, healed the sick, raised the dead, and has the power to forgive sins. Can’t He do better than broken?

The only was to last forever is being together, united with Christ in salvation. That is certainly better than broken.

To Save a Life

(Like my blog about the peace symbol, this blog was written as a default response to all the parents, students, and other people who are asking my opinion of To Save a Life.) By now you have probably heard of the movie To Save a Life, which opened nation-wide in theaters on January 22nd. The movie deals with so many issues that teens face today, like suicide, cutting, drinking, drugs, premarital sex, teen pregnancy, and abortion. At first glance this movie looks like an awesome resource that we should recommend for our teens, parents, youth pastors, and youth workers. But a closer look at the movie reveals a few disturbing things. For starters, according to pluggedin.com, there are 2 uses of the “A” word, 5 uses of hell (used as a curse word), and once the “D” word is used. There are other crude terms used to describe a girl, and crude terms for referring to sexual activity. There is also a bedroom scene that shows a girl removing a boy’s shirt, then afterwards the girl putting he...

Evangelism

“Preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words.” St. Francis of Assisi is given credit for this famous quote (although that exact phrasing does not appear in any of his writings), and a lot of people would think that this is a great philosophy. His actual quote was that everyone should “preach by their deeds.” Preaching with our deeds is not just a strategy, it is a necessity. We are commanded all through the Scriptures to let our light shine and be a peculiar people. People should be able to look at our lives and see that we are Christians. They should see the love of Christ readily on display, and thus feel compelled to live their lives in the same way. The sermon that we should preach with our lives is a sermon of love, joy, peace, patience, self-control, forgiveness, conviction, etc. But this idea that has emerged that says we should ONLY preach with our deeds is a heresy straight from the devil himself. Think about it: who is the one that does not want you t...

All Things To All Men

One of our favorite verses to use in our evangelism methods is where Paul said that he “becomes all things to all men” so that he might “by all means save some (I Corinthians 9:22).” This is certainly a good idea if we keep it in its proper context and application. For example, I remember a time in high school where I knew a kid that loved skateboarding. Being the chicken that I am, I was never a skateboarder. All he would talk about was skating, and I knew none of his lingo. But to help develop a relationship with him (he was new to our church and didn’t know many people), I brushed up on my skating lingo so I could ask if he had done any sick ollies lately (impressed?). This would be like Paul saying “to the skateboarder, I became a skateboarder.” This is effective and necessary. But then there are the people that use this verse to justify doing sinful things in the name of evangelism. The first one that comes to mind is about drinking. Some people will go into the bars to evan...

Tommy Mann

Search This Blog