Brokenness Amidst Beauty

We live in a broken world. It is marred with sin and so much brokenness. I attended a church service recently (it has been a long while I visited that branch) and that brokenness yet beautiful was so visible. Many I knew as strong and agile have grown quite frail. I watched one particular old woman who could barely walk; she was once active in church and the inevitable phase of aging had caught up with her. I saw the young who have grown into adolescence. I was fascinated with how time has flown so quickly with so many changes. I saw many left hands with glitters and glee of being called Mr. & Mrs. I was fed the ‘gossip’ of who is expecting a baby, many who have moved away among others.

Very often we are caught up in our small little world that we barely see and appreciate being part of a church family. We hurriedly set off right after church and hardly spare time to speak with others. Our own struggles blind from seeing what God is doing among the community of believers!

Our individual pride culminates into a body of rottenness, bitterness, and lack of love for one another. We unknowingly become an island devoid of any accountability. The church is a community which springs from the family as a unit. The Apostle Paul describes the church as one body with many members (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). The body members function in harmony and hence there’s brokenness when one member is out of order.

God has placed us in a community of believers so that we can urge each other on in the journey of life. That community should be our safe space, where our actions spur each other on to bearing fruits for Christ and ultimately serving Him as we serve others.

The early believers understood what it meant to be called a community of believers. “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” Acts 2:42-45.

The truth is, this community is not made up of perfect beings (James 4:1-10) yet God builds His church using these broken souls for His glory. Are you willing to be used in building God’s church and being a blessing to the community He has planted you in?