Wanted: Broken People

By Louis Sutton, WEC USA Director

There is a church in inner-city Philly called “Church of the Broken Pieces.” I like that. As a “broken piece” myself I know it's a place I can fit in. There will be other people like me. I won’t have to pretend. Even the building, an old storefront without flash, pretense, glitz or glamor, says to me “this is real.” No pretense behind this door. No surprises here.

I’d love to rename WEC as “Mission of the Broken Pieces.” It would be a pretty authentic name for us, because that’s who we are—broken people redeemed and made whole by the power of the cross. We feel our brokenness keenly at times. At other times we forget the brokenness because we are overwhelmed with God’s goodness to us and filled with hope because of His redemptive work in us. We get distracted by our passion to see everyone taste and see this goodness and the hope available to them through Christ. And being distracted by the glory of Christ is probably a very good thing.

To be real and admit that we are broken people reaching out to other broken people is also freeing. Broken is who I am and probably who you are. Broken people are who WEC missionaries are—sinners saved by grace trusting God to use us, even in weakness, to let others know the all-sufficient grace, tender mercy and transforming power of our awesome God.

Jack Miller is the founder of World Harvest Mission, a neighbor mission here in Philly. In his discipleship materials for missionaries, Jack wrote two “cheer-up” statements that I love. The first is, “Cheer up; you are worse than you thought!” To that I say “Amen!” The apostle Paul, who in his later days called himself the chief of sinners, would agree. King David had no illusions of perfection. Jeremiah didn’t cover up his frustrations and tears. Peter was a pretty authentic guy. So let’s be real. Those of us called to give our lives for global missions are not perfect people. We are certainly not even better people. Thankfully, God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27–30). Maybe in some ways God can use us even more if we know we are broken, weak and dependent people. We are a mission of broken pieces.

But God, as Jack Miller points out, does not leave us with only the first “cheer up.” The second is the statement's necessary traveling companion: “Cheer up; God’s grace is bigger than you thought it was.” I can also say “Amen!” and “Hallelujah!” to this. John Newton and I are kindred spirits in this area as we sit in wonder at God’s amazing grace. His grace is amazing to me, and that same amazing grace is available to work in the lives of my brothers and sisters. Maybe that’s why God calls broken people to reach broken people. Grace is very real to us. Our hearts burn for the Massalit of Chad and the Hui of China and the street kids of Cambodia to know this amazing grace and find healing for their own broken lives.

So, as a mission we are not looking for the glamorous to join WEC. We ourselves don’t have flash and glitz. We are real people looking for other real people, brokenness included, who dare to join us in the journey of passion for God’s glory in the nations. It is a journey to serve Christ among the broken of the world, love them in their brokenness and move them towards the wholeness that is possible only through Christ. Yes, we’re aware of our brokenness, but we’re also overwhelmed with God’s amazing grace and passionate about making this grace known to a broken world.

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