"Broken" People, the Most Valuable Human Asset in Ministry

I have written previously about the "Christian happy face", I have written about the masks that are worn in churches, I have written about poor community.

These things frustrate all frustrate me.

However, the way people who are perceived as “broken” are overlooked, sidelined and mistreated in ministry is something that actually doesn't frustrate me. It makes me mad.

Wake up church leaders!! The people you are reaching out to, the ones you run your evangelistic nights for. They're “broken” too.

Many of them don't know that they are, so blinded by sin that they can't see where their road is taking them. Others know perfectly well the state that they're in even if they don't recognize the cause.

And we would rather sideline those on our team who through their experiences are best equipped to empathize and minister to those people

Really? Is it really so important to present a strong front to the people around us that we would prefer to gloss over the greatest gifts we have in our teams?

See that guy who has a long and painful history of struggling with porn

He's probably better equipped than you to talk to the youth about porn, lust, their impacts and God's will than you. You might be the minister with the theology degree but you're 20 years older than the people you are talking to, you've been married for most of those 20 years and consequently you can't meet the youth where they're at.

See that girl who's struggled with the eating disorder?

She's the best equipped person in your team to talk to women about body image and the way that can affect young women. She can talk to them about coping with the pressures of body image from the perspective of someone who has had to survive them. You grew up in a time when knees were scandalous.

That guy with the scars on his wrists?

Who better to talk about depression in a Christian context than someone who has and is living it? 

These people are great blessings to our ministries. But there's a cost attached. You see these people are also still fighting their various battles. They, like everyone else, need the love and support of those around them and particularly the church hierarchy. So what if she can't do Sunday school because she meets with her therapist Sunday mornings? Those meetings are helping her to recover from a life threatening illness. She has other gifts you can use. Don't dismiss her as weak!

And him? He doesn't stay around after church on Sunday nights because he takes medication for his depression which makes him tired and actually helps him sleep. Sure he's not heaps involved in your post church community but he's playing with fire skipping his meds on Friday nights so he can be up till 10:30 pastoring his youth boys and then helping to pack up afterwards.

These people are not weak, they are stronger than most, they have survived and they have come out the other side of their trials not just with their faith intact but having learnt firsthand how to do so. Their experiences give them a unique insight into what others in similar situations are going through and how best to help them. They are usually best equipped to know what to say and do and what to not say and do.

But they also need a little bit of extra love and compassion. They need flexibility with regards to where and how they use their unique gifts. We must treasure them for the blessing they are. Because they are a living, talking testament to everything we teach. They are a walking demonstration of the power, love and grace of God.

Don't waste them by sidelining them or being so rigidly unaccommodating they step down from those ministries they are doing. Let God bless your ministry through them, and do it in a way which allows them to be at their best for those ministries they do.

Besides they're not even broken, they've been made whole by the blood of Christ. We just can't see it yet

**Please note: The examples given are just that, examples. There are some ministers who are fantastic at reaching youth on these issues and I in no way wish to demean that.