Be a Broken Record — Macy Wilson

It’s a desire of many to come up with something new—an original idea, to “mix things up,” to not sound like everyone else. I’ve noticed this a lot in myself recently. I struggle to write fearing that I’m saying the same thing everyone else is saying, or the same things I’ve already said. I go quiet on social media, because I don’t want to be another voice repeating the same ideas, same news, same observations as every other Instagram and Twitter account. That’s why there’s a retweet button. On a more personal level, I start saving my “I miss yous” and “I love yous” for fear of them losing their meaning. I start keeping struggles to myself so I don’t tire people of listening to them. The friend I’m living with said multiple times when I first came to live with her “I’m so glad you’re here,” and once preceded it with “I know I’ve said this a lot…” as if to apologize for it. I would never get tired of hearing her say that. And I’m sure my friends would never get tired of hearing me say “I love you” or “I miss you.” There are some things worth repeating, especially now.

Repeat your prayers.
God knows that our days are filled with monotony. We are about to spend spring praying the same prayers of protection for those we love, a swift end to this pandemic, and healing for those sick. Don’t stop doing that. When we were commanded to “pray without ceasing,” it wasn’t expected that we would have to keep coming up with new content. We are constantly in conversation with God, and if you’re anything like me, you think about the same things for a long time and take a very long time to grieve or process. When we approach him holding up our broken words of “Lord, I’m lonely” or “Father, please end this or come soon,” he will not tire of it. It is far better to approach him with our finite vocabulary and pray the same prayers over and over than to only talk to God when we think we have something new to say. We don’t know when we’ll have something new to say, so sing the praises you sing, hand him the same old fears, and confess the same plaguing sins with brokenness over them. He is a long-suffering and faithful God, and he listens to every word.

Repeat your love.
Have you ever gotten tired of hearing someone you love tell you they love you? When almost all our communication is through screens, tell your friends you love them. Tell them you miss them. Keep talking about how much you miss your church and say you’re thankful for your pastor. Tweet about it. Talk about it. Do it lots of times. I have seen a lot of “I miss my church” tweets in the last couple weeks, and not once have I been annoyed by them. I am always so encouraged and thankful for all the churches across our nation who are loving their people so well that we mourn and weep to be away from the body. There are things worth repeating, and your love for the church and longing to meet again is one of them. Love is always one of them.
Tell each other your struggles too. The church may be separated by distance, but it is still the church. There is so much healing found in talking through things with brothers and sisters and receiving encouragement from them. We are built for community, and our ache in the lack of it is proof of this fact. So lean into them now, and embrace the repetition inevitable in our current season.

Repeat the gospel.
The Bible is full of repetitions. There are 4 gospels for a reason. There are 150 psalms for a reason. Within those gospels and psalms, lines, themes, and ideas are repeated.
Psalm 136 has 52 lines, and 26 of them say the exact same thing: “for his steadfast love endures forever.” This is what the psalmist wanted to emphasize. When I recalled this psalm for this article, I couldn’t have quoted a single other line from it, but I remembered that “his steadfast love endures forever.” Repetition leads to remembrance, and it denotes importance, so repeat what’s important.
I want to be remembered as someone who repeated the gospel. If people remember nothing else I ever say, I want them to remember the words that aim to lift their head upward or encourage them in love and truth. If I thought anything else was important, I would write more about that, but I want people to know that Jesus changes everything. Plato said “there is no harm in repeating a good thing,” and the gospel is the best thing, so repeat it.

In fact, I’ll go ahead and repeat it right now.
Sinner, Christ died for you. He takes away the sins of the world and has forgiven every plaguing sin you weep over. There is no condemnation for those in Christ. He loves you and is patient with you. The grave could not hold him, and he reigns now at the Father’s right hand. He is coming back, and he is coming back soon. This is all temporary; we will one day worship our Savior for eternity with no more tears, quarantines, fear, or sickness. He loves you so deeply, and nothing can snatch you out of his hand.

There are things that deserve to be repeated. The church has always aimed to encourage each other and build each other up, but now is the time we need to hear truth from each other and love each other out loud. Now more than ever is the time we need to be encouraged and given hope. We are repetitive because our hope is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and it will always remain the most important thing in our lives. Be a broken record, and repeat it.