I want to start off by saying I am not a Bible scholar. I am just your average follower of Jesus Christ. So, the fact that the God who created the universe would speak to my soul through His word blows me away. Right now I am in a season of life where I am fighting moment by moment to become whole for the first time in my life. I am also in a position of Christian leadership. In this season I have often wondered if I could lead while being broken and be made whole in spite of my scars. I want to tell you right now, yes I can, and so can you. I know this to be true because the Son of God, Jesus Christ himself did.
Luke 22:44-46 says: “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat become like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And when he rose from payer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said to them, Why are you sleeping? Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” When I read these verses I think to myself, how on earth did you, Jesus, get up after sweating blood? How did you find the strength to lead your team of disciples? How did you do this knowing you were going to be betrayed? At this time Jesus knew he had been sold out for thirty pieces of sliver and was going to be denied by his whole team, yet he still felt qualified to lead.
So, if Jesus himself could still lead while broken, should not we as believers feel qualified to do the same? Why in our brokenness do we feel like we can’t lead if Jesus has shown us that he did? After all, we are told to be like Jesus. So I say to you leaders, be like him. Don’t you dare stop leading even when in the dark valleys of life. Your team needs you and Christ himself showed us all we are still qualified, just as he was during those days prior to his crucifixion. What would have happened if Jesus had sat down in the garden of Gethsemane and told God “I can’t lead this team right now. I am too broken”? What would the world look like if Jesus believed the lie that he was no longer qualified to be the Savior of the world because he was in pain? I am grateful we never have to know the answer, because Jesus got up and led his team that night. For the love of ice cream, my sweet broken leaders get up right now, go. Lead that team of yours. Don’t you dare believe the lie that your pain and brokenness make you unqualified to be a leader in God’s kingdom. In the words of my Pastor Craig Taylor “The only difference between leaders and great leaders is this; Great leaders keep showing up.”
Jesus was made whole but still bore scars. John 20:19-20 says: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the door being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, Peace be with you.When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.”Jesus Christ the Savior of the world, son of God bore scars on his body. Why would Jesus do this? After all he had a new, resurrected body, so why would he not make his new body whole again? Why did he keep the nail marks in his hands, why did he leave the spear mark on his side? This author believes Jesus did this to show us, his followers, that you can be made whole and complete in Christ with your scars intact. The wounds you have on your soul or body do not disqualify you from being whole and complete in Christ.
In God’s word it says: “And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.” (Revelation 12:11)
I have often wondered why God did not just save us all by the blood of the Lamb. Why does he require the words of our testimony to complete the circle of salvation? This author believes it is because the words of everyone’s testimony shows the world that our God the father, Jesus the son and the Holy spirit are not just characters in the stories of the Bible.
It is our testimonies that make the Holy Trinity real. It’s us as believers being willing to show a hurting world that God is still in the miracle business by revealing to the world our own scars. When we as believers step out in faith and say “I survived the loss of my loved one” or “I beat mental illness by not allowing it to control my life” or “I was sexually abused as a child and found a way to enjoy intimacy with my spouse,” it is those testimonies that make God real to a hurting world.
When believers do this, they become like Jesus. The same Jesus who showed his disciples the marks on his own body. It is the collective word of our stories about brokenness, pain and how they did not make us as believers less complete in Christ. On the contrary those very words speak loudly to an unbelieving world about the power of God’s healing nature. So, my sweet reader, take the pen from my hand and tell your story. Show the world that God is real, that he mends broken hearts and souls. Speak loudly to a grieving world about God’s healing nature. Show your scars believers, then step back and watch in awe as God changes lives with the words of your very own testimony. Stand back and watch as God completes your own circle of salvation with the blood of the lamb and the words of your testimony.
Heather Rodriguez
Board Member and Co-Founder of Brave Penny