together, and once my nervousness
subsided, it proved to be a heartfelt
and meaningful talk. After discussing
a series of questions and concerns—
which I presumed I had answered
satisfactorily—we seemed to be
winding down our conversation.
But… with a piercing gaze that
reached right into my soul, Mr. Jakes
said, “Touré, I know what’s right with
you. That all looks good. But tell me,
what’s wrong with you?” It was a
brilliant question.
from you at this very moment? What
would you do if you discovered that
peace, love, progress, and even
finances were all going out the back
door of your life because brokenness
has been embezzling your blessings
for years? The brutal truth? It is
entirely possible. Brokenness is just
as committed to your not reaching
your mountaintop of potential as
Wholeness is to your getting there.
“If brokenness is so costly, why is it so
challenging for us to acknowledge?”
So tell me, what’s wrong with you?
In my view, it comes down to
Could you have readily responded to two things: pride and blind spots.
Mr. Jakes’ question? How willing and Pride is what allows us to admit
able are you to acknowledge that
we aren’t perfect but prevents us
there may be broken areas in your
from acknowledging brokenness.
life? If you want to be whole, you
For the most part, imperfection is
have to understand, address, and
an acceptable norm in the human
ultimately surrender your brokenness
experience. Because imperfection
on the altar of wholeness. And there
is largely accepted, it escapes the
is no shame in being broken. You
requirement of change. It gives us an
didn’t choose your brokenness; your
easy way out of our mistakes without
brokenness chose you.
the mandate for improvement. To be
broken, however, is a different story.
We all come into this world with at
Brokenness requires fixing, and pride
least a crack when we are born.
refuses to admit that there is anything
Those before us were born into
at all to fix.
brokenness, and those before them
the same. The brokenness you inherit Blind spots are just what they sound
is not your fault, but it is very much
like—obstructions that keep us from
your responsibility to overcome it.
seeing our own brokenness. One of
Why? Because if your brokenness is
the hardest things for us to see clearly
left unchecked, it will steal from you.
and completely is ourselves. We are
aware of most of what is in front of
Is it possible that brokenness in your
us but little of what is within us. We
life is costing you far more than you
realize? What if brokenness is stealing all have an idea of who we are, but
only from a limited perspective—our
Solutions 59