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The Community of the Broken: Finding Intimacy Through Poverty  

By Judith Hougen 

There are two rooms, two frameworks for living our lives.  One is the room of the pious, where the posturing is that of pretense and performance.  This is a gathering of pretenders incapable of genuine relationship and authenticity.  The second room, or framework for living, is the room of the broken—people who know they don’t have it all together and desperately cling to God’s grace.  These people are well acquainted with their weaknesses and are not afraid to share their vulnerabilities with others.  Here in this room are the authenticity and freedom that come with telling the truth.  There is honest and open fellowship with God and one another. 

In Matthew 18, when Jesus tells the parable of the king whose servant owed him ten thousand talents (an enormous amount of money), the problem is in the servant’s response to the king’s query about where the money was.  He declares, “Be patient with me … and I will pay back everything” (Matthew 18:26).  To think he could pay back the king this huge amount is outrageous.  It is a myth of competency.  He is unaware of his own weakness and his need for the forgiveness and mercy that will free him from the need to “perform” and even the score.  The king does forgive the servant the debt, but forgiveness is received only superficially, as the servant then goes out and punishes an underling who owes him money.  

Until we become acquainted with our poverty and own it, we cannot truly know God.  Up to this point, we know only about God.  Not until we own our poverty and depend in utter weakness of Go’s mercy do we experience the love God has for us – just as we are.  

1. Have you been in situations where pretense and performance were the rules of operation?  

2. How did you experience the quality of relationships there?  

3. Have you ever been in a place where you were keenly aware of your utter dependence on God?  Describe this experience.  

4. Where have you been able to share vulnerably with another and create true community?  

5. Do you think sharing openly our wounds and the poverty of our spirits happens a lot in churches?  If not, how might we allow this to happen more?