A Broken Spirit
It is recorded that a lady approached
Dr Alexander Whyte after he had preached
in his pulpit in St George’s in Edinburgh
West and made the following remark: “Dr
Whyte, you preached today as if you had
just emerged from the throne room of the
Almighty.” He replied, “In point
of fact, I have.” Obviously that lady
had seen something of the glow of heaven
on his face and a brokenness of spirit,
as he preached the Word of God.
If we were honest we would have to admit
that we seldom encounter brokenness today
or hear the subject being addressed in our
pulpits. No doubt many reasons could be
found for this omission, but the following
come to mind:
- Society encourages us to be self-assertive
and adopt a more strident approach to
whatever we are doing. We must present
ourselves as strong and confident. We
must not admit to any weakness as it will
undermine people’s confidence in
us and may affect our success.
- Even when believers are passing through
sorrow or mourning they are afraid to
weep or show emotion in case it would
be interpreted as weakness of faith indicating
a lack of hope, when in fact it is very
natural to vent our feelings and emotions,
as Jesus did at the grave of Lazarus.
Some of my most vivid memories of preachers
are of men of God broken in spirit, shedding
tears as they presented the truth of the
Cross of Christ and His love for sinners.
A more recent impression of this brokenness
came on my early visits with SGA to Eastern
Europe, well over twenty years ago, and
meeting with a brother who seldom could
handle the Word of God without being moved
to tears. Naturally speaking, he did not
tend to be emotional, but when he addressed
holy things it was evident he had a broken
spirit. Though this may have appeared weakness
to some, it was actually a great strength.
Dr Campbell Morgan recalled an interesting
story about the English actor Macready.
An eminent preacher once asked him this
question, ”What is the difference
between you and me? You are appearing before
crowds night after night with fiction and
the crowds come wherever you go. I am preaching
the essential and unchangeable truth and
I am not getting any crowd at all.”
Macready answered, “This is quite
simple. I can tell you the difference between
us. I present my fiction as though it were
truth; you present truth as though it were
fiction.”
In today’s media we see how passionately
theory and fiction are presented as fact.
Truth must be presented with equal passion,
firmness and conviction, but with sensitivity
and a broken spirit. It would appear that
preaching today has become more learned
and pedantic, and indeed is more of a performance.
I feel it is right to say that we have largely
lost the brokenness that characterised the
Revivalists of the 18th Century awakening,
such as Whitfield and Wesley. This applies
not only to preachers but to all Christians
who seek to make Christ known through lip
and life.
May we exemplify a broken spirit in the
place where God has placed us, and in the
work to which He has called us, so that
we may present the Gospel with passion and
fervour in the power of the Holy Spirit.
This can only come about as we spend time
in the ‘throne room of the Almighty.
William Smylie
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