Broken

There are two kinds of systems, hard systems and soft systems. Hard systems are the ones like the mechanical gears in a clock or watch with physical parts that can be replaced. Occasionally foreign objects somehow get lodged in the intricacies of the moving parts in a physical system and our first thought is that the system has broken. Upon closer look we find that all that is required is for someone or something to remove the object and that allows the system to regain its functionality. Soft systems are the ones that involve programs, plans, objectives, goals, perceived outcomes, and most importantly people. It involves people to run the system for the benefit of other people. The economy, politics and church are soft systems. These systems don’t always work the way the plan or program is designed to work but that’s the beauty of a soft system. It can be changed to address the challenges and gaps in accessibility for the people the system is suppose to serve. It’s also the evil of the soft system because it can be changed to accommodate the goals of the person or persons who run the system for their own glory. At this point some would say that the system has broken when in fact the system is not broken it’s merely running the way the one person or persons wants it to run. What becomes broken are the people the soft system is supposed to serve but doesn’t. The longer the system serves itself the more broken the people become. Brokenness is painful and garners distrust and fear. Christ understood this and focused his ministry on healing a broken people in a system that was serving itself. By the grace of God there was still hope amidst the brokenness that enabled a broken people to hear Christ assure them that the system is not God. God was in fact greater than the system.