The Balancing Act

I long ago came to the realization that I have absolutely no side-to-side balance needed for any "boarding" sport. My brief forays into these sports have ended in complete disaster, which in hindsight I can actually laugh at now. My first time snowboarding I wrecked my ankle and had to be taken down the hill by the ski patrol. Oh, and this comes without actually going down the hill but simply my inability to get off the chair lift. My ability to skateboard begins and ends with simply standing on the board never mind any attempt at momentum. I swore off wake boarding after consuming several galleons of highly questionable Mary Lake water. This ultimately makes me wonder why I have now attempted to take up surfing, which my record after three full days stands at 4 seconds standing on the board (prayer for safety is appreciated...).

While there are loads of people who can do all of these sports with varying levels of skill, it ultimately begins with a good sense of balance. As my example has proved, my inability to balance has unfortunately ended any aspirations I held to boarding glory. In addition to the need for balance in sports, balance is necessary for our quality of life and in its absence we find ourselves at a loss to even gain traction. Aristotle was the first to pick up this relationship within life in his philosophy of ethics. He purposed that virtue can only be understood as the balance between the extremity of vice. It is when we have a deficiency or excess in our life that we find ourselves devolving into vice. He provides the humorous example of the virtue of bravery whereby those that exhibit an excess are guilty of the vice of rashness as they run into battle naked and unprepared while in contrast those that are guilty the deficient are ascribing to the vice of cowardice as they hide behind a rock, unable to fight. It should not be our aspiration to be either but to reach the virtuous mean of bravery.

However, Aristotle then spends the remainder of his book attempting to answer how we attain the middle ground of virtue; how to achieve the illusive balance? He exasperates at the end that it "is hard work to be excellent. For in each case [of virtue] it is hard work to find the balance... everyone can get angry, to spend money, is easy...but doing things [with balance] is rare, praiseworthy, and fine."

The key here that Aristotle picked up on thousands of years ago is that balance in life is not something that we stumble upon. He earlier had noted that our natural inclination is to the extreme and poses one of the greatest challenges we face. We are creatures of extremes; when we find something we like we seize hold, when we encounter something we dislike we avoid with all severity, and when we get set into these patterns it become an intense challenge to retreat back to moderation. I am reminded of Galatians 5 and the list of the fruit of the flesh and fruit of the Spirit. As I survey the fruit of the flesh there are one or two the instantly convict and I can see patterns in my own life. By God's grace these are reducing patterns but there is a specific draw to specific sins. I may be guilty of all sins but I will battle with a select few. In contrast however, God is not calling us to pick one or two fruit of the Spirit for us but desires that we cultivate them all. I may be growing in self-control and patience but what is that worth if I am not loving (hint: 1 Cor. 13:2). As Paul notes in 1 Cor. 9:26-27, "so I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control." There is a need for focus, intentionality, and effort in the life lived in the Spirit. So as Aristotle unknowingly points out for us, balance is hard work. But yet it is worth it: balance is important, balance is healthy, and, most importantly, balance is godly.


Of course this all leads to an explosion of new questions: What does balance even look like ? Not only is balance hard to achieve, but how do we know we have attained it? What does a godly balance look like in compared to a worldly balance? Is there a difference? How does balance relate to certainty? Can a balanced life still passionately pursue Christ? Isn't Christ supposed to occupy an imbalanced portion of our life? Doesn't complete balance just lead to compartmentalism?

The importance in this principle, as with any other, is to bring the theoretical to application for the glory of Christ in our lives. It is with that aim that we then seek to answer these questions as we apply this principle. Over the next three posts I will hope to answer these questions as I address 3 areas in which balance is crucial to our spiritual lives.

These three are:
1) My Time - Balance is loving
2) My Theology - Balance is worship
3) My Telos - Balance is God given

Quick note - I had originally planned this as one blog but it has become so long I have reached my limit and so I will parcel this out into four blogs.

The Gap

Wow, just remembered that I had a blog...and that I haven't posted since February. The blog I guess has been an epic failure in terms for consistency but hopefully that changes as I hope to use the blog to think through some of the topics discussed in my philosophy classes.

So first thing up is what one of my professors called "the Sanctification Gap" and its an incredibly simple aspect but touches on one of the hardest truths of Christianity; namely: how do I get from where I am to where God wants me to be? He framed it within the context of Galatians 5 where Paul says to "Walk by the Spirit so that you may not gratify the pleasures of the flesh." The point of the Sanctification Gap is for all Christians we are faced with two pictures: the man or woman that God desires us to be and our current status; the ideal and the reality. The point here is that God has called us to "walk by the spirit" so that we begin to strive continuously for the ideal while "putting off" our old self (Col. 3:5-17).

That's all well and good, and a great goal but one problem... what in the world does it mean to "Walk by the Spirit?" And for that matter, how do we put off the "old self." To anybody that is struggling with sin and desperately desiring to see God glorified in their life, this is a question of ultimate importance. Only a few months ago I was in a room with several men whom I count as both godly and intelligent as we tried to figure this out the exact meaning of "walking by the spirit." We rightly recognize that these phrases hold considerable power and represent an enormous importance to the righteousness and victory of our walk. Various solutions have been offered to give a more defined criteria for walking by the Spirit; daily prayer and time in the word, godly fellowship and accountability, sacrificing relationships and activities that only served to draw our attention away from Christ, etc. There are hundred of books on the subject and several immediately come to mind in dealing with the defeat of sin and growing delight and desire for God. I believe, however, that this is an incomplete picture in that the battle over whether we will walk by the spirit or not is won or lost in the moments when we face the Sanctification Gap in our own lives.

Let me explain. Every Christian will, undoubtedly, face many times in their lives when the true depravity is revealed and juxtaposed with the godly life that God has called them towards. This can happen at numerous intervals throughout our life: we see God moving in the life of a friend or family member and reflect upon our own apathetic walk, we hear a passionate sermon where God convict us of unconfessed or unresolved sin, or we read God's word and see terms like "walk by the spirit" and realize how far off we are from achiveing the standard to which God has called us (1 Pet 1:3-25). At this moment, our response to God's conviction is of the utmost importance. While there are numerous responses, I believe we can reasonably categorize them into three sections with a potential for a fourth.

1) When we see the Sanctification Gap in regards to our own failings, we become excited. While convicting and hard, God's grace remains present in our minds and we are excited to do better. We hear words like "put off the old self" and "walk by the spirit" and they resonate within our soul and our immediate response is "YES! I want that for my life." We recognize the truth that God convicts and disciplines those whom he loves and we are excited/determined to serve God with our heart,soul, and mind. This does not diminish the fact that we are finite, fallible beings; incapable of bridging the gap but we respond with remembrance that Christ has already achieved the victory. The Sanctification Gap becomes an example of God's Grace and leads us to worship.

2) When we see the Sanctification Gap in regards to our own failings we only see the work left undone. As God convicts us of our failings in regards to our calling, we see very clearly just how far we have fallen from the ideal and the amount of work left to bridge the gap. When we hear Paul say to "walk in a manner worthy of your calling," we are left inwardly gazing at the veering path we have walked instead and just how far we have now strayed. Our desire is to please God and we recognize the necessity of his grace (indeed without it there would be no hope at all) but all we can see is the laundry-list to achieve so that we might have a vibrant walk with God. We may not be discouraged, in fact we might actually be incredibly motivated, but the daunting task set before us soon becomes insurmountable. The Sanctification Gap illuminates how much is left undone and leads us to work.

3) When we see the Sanctification Gap in regards to our own failings we become frustrated at our complete failure to live as God has called us. When a preacher is expounding God's word we struggle to grasp the application of the text into our own struggle for righteousness. When we hear phrases like "put off the old self" we wonder what that actually means and why we seem to be the only ones who can't put it together. Unfortunately this soon devolves into the conclusion that the pastor and other smarter, stronger Christians understand while this must not be able to work for us. We give up on victory and see the our own sanctification as merely a metaphor for moral living, not grasping the victory that God has intended for his people. Unable to grasp why we continue to sin, we often despair into believing that it is impossible. The Sanctification Gap becomes an insurmountable wall from which we conclude there is no hope for victory.


The point here is that the intentionality of our mind upon the reception of God's conviction is crucial to our spiritual victory. The Sanctification Gap is real, difficult, and a daunting obstacle for Christians to wrap their heads which can be won or lost in the initial moments upon receiving God's conviction. Romans 8 tells us that there is "no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus." Additionally, Paul throughout Romans 5 and 6 reminds his readers of the limitless and glorifying nature of God's grace in that "where sin increased, grace increased all the more so that where sin reigned through death, grace may reign through righteousness." The Sanctification Gap points us to the glory of God in that while we were, and still are, sinners, Christ died for us and it for his glory that we walk in his ways, not for the gap.

Thanks to Dr. John Coe.

The Ability

So long time no write, eh? I really don't know what I've been doing over the past few months, nothing of much consequence unfortunately as I'm waiting to hear from grad schools. That has all changed this week as I've gone from zero to sixty in about 5 seconds with several essays due this week and more to follow over the next few weeks. It's always interesting standing on the edge of a really busy few weeks. How quickly we gravitate to the question "How in the world am I going to get this all done?" Setting up the calendar is almost like working a puzzle to fit everything into place and make sure that you leave enough room to get everything finished. To me, it's like standing at the top of double black diamond hill getting ready to head down. As you stare over the edge you being to ask the same questions: "What was I thinking? There is no way I can do this!" I remember my first run on a major ski hill; I stood at the top looking down for what seemed like ages as dozens of more skilled skiers and snowboarders flowed past. With much encouragement I set out and, similar to busy work schedules, worked through each section at a time. It's amazing how many times we say we can't get through something because of how busy it is or how hard it looks, that we aren't able to accomplish the intimidating feat set before us.

That feeling can lead to utter despair when faced with a challenge where we know that our own abilities will fail, our capacity is not enough. So I was in Jude recently (A book which is sorely overlooked yet contains a goldmine of awesome scripture for a book of only one page) and found 1:24 which says "Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy." I find that life often moves from one double back diamond to another as the challenges mount. Whether its intense work when our bodies are already shutting down from exhaustion, difficult situations which test both our humility and patience, or persistent sin which we desperately pray for victory over; there are few seasons in life (if any) when we could say we are not on the edge of a impending challenge, trial, or temptation. That's why this passage is so awesome; the author might have said something like "God will fight for you" or "God will strengthen you" (both true) yet this picture of a God which is dealing with our insufficiency by his own complete sufficiency for the task at hand. There is no challenge that can be thrown at Him whereby the outcome is in doubt. Here we can see the complete and utter sovereignty of God over both the worldly challenges of his people as well as our ultimate salvation. Going into every challenge we hold two truths: God is able to handle our difficulties and our salvation is secure.

The Reality

A true prayer for humility must originate from an accurate perception of my own state of affairs. Humility is not granted as if it were some power to be disposed; rather it is a clear understanding of reality. My finite limitations in the face of God limitless power. My sinfulness standing in the shadow of God's plan for salvation on the cross. It's aggrandizing self-deprecation but rather seeks to absolve the equation of the "self" completely while transfixing our gaze on the divine. For it is easy to summarize my life in the absence of Christ as Paul states in Ephesians 2 as "dead." I was dead, so what point is there to talk of it? I would much rather focus on the awesomeness of God that even though I was dead, God was still greater.

Humility is a quick, yet at times painful, realization that I am, in fact, dead (or at least was) while also the realization of unfathomable riches of God's grace which has chosen me through no fault or success of my own. Humility is never complete but continues to grow as we mine the abundance of God's glory while maintaining the foundation that we are dead without him. In this way humility begins and ends at the cross. For at the cross my death is made evident while Christ's glory is displayed. It is the ultimate picture of human depravity and divine grace. Humility is nothing more than a true realization of this profound reality: I am nothing save for Christ.