Brokenness
We are living in a broken world. That’s not new, it’s been true since the fall, but just in case we weren’t paying attention or didn’t think things were “that bad,” this last year has shed a whole new light on brokenness. Everyday my social media posts are flooded with horrible customer stories. I don’t mean the demanding the manger stories, I mean “the pregnant waitress who was told by a customer that they hope she miscarried” type of stories. The war between opposing opinions on politics, religion, health, and the places those meet. The growing unkindness, impatience, and straight up anger at everything from inanimate objects to neighbors to families.
It is easy to become disgusted by these stories. It is easy to get angry at the people we know that are behaving badly. It’s also easy to buy into the anger and agree with someone, if not verbally, then emotionally or spiritually or by action (or inaction). But my heart has been softening lately and hurting. In all the anger and resentment lies loss. In all the attitude and language lies fear. In the meanness and pettiness lies uncertainty. Our world has shifted and nothing is quite as anyone expected it to be. In a world of hurting and broken people, the default has become to hurt and break others so that we may be less broken. To fill the missing pieces with anything that makes us feel better about ourselves. To silence the internal accusations by pointing the finger to others. However, no matter how wrongly we are treated, what values are questioned, what character attacks we suffer, Jesus is not in the biting comeback or snarky defensiveness.
Love, peace, patience, joy, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self control. Those are the fruits of the spirit, where you find those things you find Jesus. Where you share those things, you share Jesus. Where you are led by those things, you are led by Jesus. In a world that is growing excessively negative and loud, how are you doing in sowing these seeds. This is what the world needs from us. This is what the world needs from Jesus. This is how we change the world.
Tale of Two Restaurants
I went out to eat at two similar casual restaurants, the kind where you order at the counter. One was a burrito place; one was a sandwich shop. Both were ridiculously short staffed and busy. At the burrito place, which admittedly, is not my favorite, I was helped by a young adult who was clearly new to the job, didn’t or couldn’t answer the couple questions I asked, and made a mess of my burrito – not rolling it up all the way and allowing it to tear in several places, when I ate it (with a fork) it was cold all the way through and dry. I was frustrated. I didn’t do anything that I owe the clerk an apology for, but my family, and probably anyone close enough to pay attention were acutely aware that I was unhappy as I stabbed at my food and grumbled about it. I’m not proud of that. We were having a good day, celebrating a two-day football win for my son, and I got grumpy about a burrito.
Then, just yesterday, we went grocery shopping and stopped at the sandwich place. It also had a new young employee. I’m pretty sure he was the only one there. They were out of several toppings, the freshly baked bread (which is my favorite thing about this chain) was flat and misshaped. We ordered our sandwiches, skipped the items they were out of, watched him sloppily roll up my sandwich that was also falling apart. We helped him update his sticky note with the list of “out of” items and thanked him for our meal. As we sat down to eat and laughed at the mess we were making with our sandwiches as mayo and onions clung to the outside of the bread and other veggies dripped onto the paper. Our hands were a sticky mess and the fountain drinks weren’t working (so no water), but we laughed and ate. I told my kids that it looked like he was the only one working today, we should just be glad he showed up when others’ didn’t. Despite the mess, we had a good time, and everyone left in a good mood.
Change the World
One of those encounters reflects the fruit of the spirit in my life, the other does not. To be clear, I wasn’t mean and I didn’t say anything. But I also showed no love, peace, patience, joy, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control – If somebody had chosen that moment to ask me about Jesus, I would’ve been a poor witness to the life change Jesus offers.
Friends, this is what it’s really all about. How are you impacting the world around you? What kind of seeds are you sowing? What will you be remembered for? Sadly, my kids see the best and worst of me, just like they did on these two occasions (ok, maybe not the worst of me, but the not so great), hopefully they see the best more that the worst. Hopefully they see a growing curve of more great days than not so great days. Hopefully, they see me offering love, peace, patience, joy, kindness, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness and self control more than not. Those are the seeds I want to sow. Those are the seeds Jesus wants us to sow. And one person at a time, one kindness at a time is how we will change the world. Love well today. Be kind today. Share Jesus with your words, your actions, and your reactions today.