The reliability weapon: Humpty’s wall

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty together again.

Most people think the lesson of Humpty Dumpty is about falling. It isn’t. It’s about trust. You don’t sit on a wall unless you trust the wall. You don’t climb high unless you trust what holds you up. And you don’t build relationships unless you trust the people around you. The real tragedy wasn’t that Humpty fell. Everyone falls. The tragedy was that when he broke apart, nobody knew how to put the pieces back together. That’s where the nursery rhyme collides with the teachings of Jesus. The world says reliability is showing up, keeping your promises, being on time, and doing what you said you would do. Those things matter. In fact, they are good. But Jesus takes reliability much deeper. According to the Kingdom of God, reliability isn’t merely being trustworthy with responsibilities; it’s being trustworthy with relationships.

In Matthew 5:21–26, Jesus addresses one of the most misunderstood battles of the human heart. While everyone else was focused on murder, Jesus focused on what happens long before murder ever occurs. He begins with anger, moves to contempt, and ends with condemnation. Dallas Willard points out in The Divine Conspiracy that Jesus is exposing the roots beneath the visible fruit. Murder is simply the final act of a war that has already been raging in the heart. Anger says, “You hurt me.” Contempt says, “You are beneath me.” Condemnation says, “You no longer matter to me.” By the time the relationship died, the battle had been lost long ago. Jesus wants to stop the war before the first shot is fired.

I know something about that battle because there was a season in my life when anger seemed to follow me everywhere. It rode in the passenger seat of my truck, sat beside me at meetings, and quietly influenced more decisions than I cared to admit. One day, many years ago, I sat across from my pastor, Dick Young, discussing some of the struggles I was facing. At just the right moment, he reached into a desk drawer and pulled out an old newspaper. There on the front page was a photograph of him in the middle of a hockey fight. Gloves off. Throwing punches. I looked at the picture, then looked at him, and then back at the picture again. Before he even spoke, the message had already landed. “Drake,” he said, “I understand anger.” There was no judgment in his voice, no lecture, and no condemnation. Just understanding. Then he did what great pastors do. He pointed me to Jesus.

Pastor Young wasn’t reliable because he was a pastor. He was reliable because he had learned what to do with his anger. He had been in the fight. He understood the battlefield. Most importantly, he had discovered that Jesus doesn’t simply teach us how to suppress anger; He teaches us how to steward it. The world teaches us to retaliate, protect ourselves, keep score, and write people off. Jesus teaches us to reconcile. The world says, “Wait until they apologize.” Jesus says, “First go.” The world says, “Win the argument.” Jesus says, “Win the relationship.” The world says, “They don’t deserve it.” Jesus says, “Neither did you.”

That is why I call this character trait the Reliability Weapon. The world defines reliability as being dependable enough to keep your commitments. Jesus defines reliability as being dependable enough to steward your heart. A reliable disciple is someone who can be trusted with conflict. Someone who can be trusted when wounded. Someone who can be trusted not to allow anger to become bitterness, contempt to become superiority, or condemnation to become a permanent verdict over another person. Reliable people create safe places because they have surrendered the battlefield of their heart to Christ.

Jesus even goes so far as to say that if you’re on your way to worship and remember a broken relationship, stop what you’re doing and pursue reconciliation first. Why? Because reconciliation is not a side issue in the Kingdom. It is the mission. God Himself is in the business of putting broken things back together. Broken hearts. Broken families. Broken friendships. Broken churches. Broken people. The cross stands as the ultimate declaration that restoration is always God’s preferred outcome.

So this week, ask yourself a few hard questions. Is there someone I’m angry with? Have I allowed contempt to take root? Have I quietly condemned someone in my heart? Is there a phone call I need to make, a conversation I need to have, or a step toward reconciliation I need to take? You may not be able to restore every relationship, but you can always remove yourself as an obstacle to restoration.

Humpty Dumpty reminds us what the world believes: once broken, always broken. Jesus tells a different story. Reliable warriors don’t merely keep commitments. They keep reconciliation alive. They don’t win by destroying people. They win by helping put the pieces back together.

As always…God is here. God is able. God is good.

Pastor Drake

I’ll be continuing this conversation later this week on the Just Sayin’ podcast, where we’ll take a deeper look at The Reliabilty Weapon: Humpty’s Wall.

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so, we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.