Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Since 1907
Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Let your heart be broken

As I grow older and delve deeper into the life that God has called me to, one phrase stays in the front of my mind. Bob Pierce, the founder of Samaritan’s Purse, once wrote these famous words: “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.”

Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t necessarily enjoy the feeling of my heart being broken. Allowing your heart to be broken is not simply cognitive; it involves your emotions and requires a response. It’s a certain vulnerability that often urges us to look away. Think about when you see the news about bombs exploding in countries you don’t identify with, or read a sign held by someone alongside the road that you don’t know, or watch a video of a police officer brutalizing an innocent black person that isn’t you. It’s so easy to look away.

There are many problems with looking away, however. One, staying silent allows the sin, heartache and hurt to continue running rampant. Two, it allows us to pretend that we are not somehow involved in another’s suffering. Three, it deceives us into thinking that for some reason, loving the poor and powerless doesn’t actually apply in this situation.

God calls his followers to look after the disadvantaged, to fight for justice, to love passionately. He knows that it’s easier to look away, but he begs us to look at his people the way that he looks at his people: worthy of love, dignity and respect. When we see others through the eyes of our Creator, we see people worth fighting for. We see people worth being vulnerable for.

Letting your heart be broken isn’t easy, nor is it comfortable. It may require a giving up of time, energy or resources. It may mean that you donate to an organization that advocates for refugees, or stand up against microaggressions on behalf of your sibling of color, or intentionally sit next to the individual who just identified themselves as LGBTQ+ and are now receiving dirty looks. Standing up for justice and equality is not restricted to a single political party. It is required of everyone who identifies as a Christian, regardless of personal beliefs. It shouldn’t matter if you believe in open borders or stricter vetting of immigrants or marriage equality or Black Lives Matter or the pro-life agenda. The reality is that if someone is being treated as subhuman or as lesser, it is your responsibility to step in and fight for their rights as a human being. In fact, the Lord requires it of you: to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with him (Micah 6:8).

Let me end with this: it’s not about you. That may sting a little to hear, but I promise that it’s true. If we seek to love God and love his people, we become far less self-centered and far more God-honoring.

So what does it look like for you to have your heart broken by the things that break God’s heart? God gives us opportunities each and every day to further the Kingdom through our love. Will you commit to opening your heart to the Lord’s calling on your life? It may be vulnerable or uncomfortable and it may cost you. But I assure you this: there are few better feelings in the world than when you give someone their dignity back. Please commit today to indiscriminately treating others as children of God. Do this, and I promise that your heart will be broken in the best possible way.

More to Discover