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.

The Timeout

Okay, so I usually talk about lessons that God is currently teaching me and not a political or current events commentary but there are two things that I cannot let go right now and I need to vent; for my own sanity. Here it goes:



Winston Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst system of government...besides all the rest." Well, I'm not usually one to disagree with Winston on most things, recent events have made me far more skeptical.



Let's start with politics in Canada. On this past Monday night I went to sleep in a democracy and when I woke up in some messed up place where people used words like "Prime Minister Dion." Over night the liberals had grabbed power despite the fact that they had suffered one of their worst losses in Liberal history and given the Conservatives the largest mandate for a minority government in Canadian history. If things couldn't get worse, we hear that 6 NDP MPs are going to be ministers in Dion's government with crazy Jack Layton taking Minister of Labour. Are you kidding me? A socialist becoming our minister of Labour? Have people just forgotten how the NDP royally screwed Ontario? How could this happen in a democracy? How could Canada have gone to the polls only a 6 weeks ago and elected a Conservative government and we get the unholy alliance of Liberals/NDP/Bloc? Come the end of January, Canada might have a Prime Minister that the Liberals did not even think qualified to lead their own party and which Canadians resoundly told Ottawa we didn't want.



Okay, point number two: the BCS fiasco which has somehow destroyed the Longhorn's chances of reaching the National Championship. Now, I've followed Texas all year (slight disclaimer, I am a Texas fan and I am biased towards the Longhorns so take this all with a grain of salt) and I don't think I've seen such a dominate College team. They dominated every all season except their last second loss to Texas Tech after dropping a game winning interception on the second last play. Yet, their on the outside looking in barring a miracle as Oklahoma gets the nod. Here's the kicker: TEXAS BEAT OKLAHOMA. Get that? Both teams have the exact same record, very similar schedules (Although both ESPN and SI say that Texas had the slightly harder season), and their stats are virtually identical. Yet, Texas (on a neutral field) beat Oklahoma 35-25 on a neutral field (Texas lost, on the road, and by a last second hail mary throw) yet the BCS polled writers and somehow these writers, lacking the wisdom of Solomon, have given the nod to Oklahoma. Are you kidding me? Why are we even voting? Does the NFL vote on who makes it into the playoffs? No, they pick the best record and then head to head and then record within the division.



Canadian politics and the BCS... what is one to do?

The Strong

Something about guys that has become abundantly clear as I've gotten older is that we always think were pretty strong. While it might take different forms: physical strength, mental endurance, pain tolerance, etc; the main point is that all guys are constantly thinking about our strength. Often times, that mentality can get us into some problems because more often then not, we find out that we are not as strong as we first thought. I love the old Monty Python sketch where the weightlifter sees some kids trying to lift up his wieghts but they can't do it. He laughs, pushes them out of the way and bends down to pick it up himself only to find out that he can't lift it. Rather than admit that his strength has failed him, he tries and tries only to be rebuffed by the old man who walks in, picks up the weight and hoists it over his shoulders.

Case in point, my older brother Matt. Now if you don't know my brother then you wouldn't know that he has always been quite a bit bigger than me and, therefore, has somewhat of an advantage when it comes to strength. While I might acknowledge his advantage today, there was a time when such an admission would not have been easily forthcoming. So being my brother he often said things to me growing up that I took exception to and I would gladly call him on it and struggle would quickly ensue which usually (far to common for my taste) landed me on my back.

It seems common for guys that when we get face to face with a situation that is not to our liking that we immediately fall back to strength. Whether its a situation that just looks hopeless or a job that's seems to be excessively challenging our response is always "I've got this! This can't beat me! I'll just grit my teeth, put my head down and work hard." While outwardly we complain about all of the work we have to do, inwardly we are excited to prove just how strong we are.

I am constantly astonished at how often this plays out in the lives of the great men of the bible. Again and again these so called "heros" of the bible get trapped in a situation that's tough and what do they do? Once again its like, "Step back! I got this, I'm going to get this done." And what happens? Naaman gets leprosy and tries to buy his healing with all of the wealth and influence that he can afford and, if not for his servant, would have been sent home emptyhanded. Elijah tries to single handedly take back Israel for God and winds up in a cave pouting while God starts to raise up others to do his work. While Job starts off pretty good on his own strength is ultimately lets out and then he has to match his strength against God's (one guess as to who wins). Even David, the "Man after God's own heart," sleeps with Bethsheba and then, on his own strength, spends years covering it up only to dig himself into the grand canyon of holes.

I think the ultimate example of this is the rich young man that comes to Jesus in Mark 10: 17-29. The guy comes up to Jesus after searching for eternal life his entire life and asks him the same question he's asked countless others: "What must I do to be saved." Look at the laundry list that Jesus gives to him; "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Now that's not an easy list to accomplish but the Young Man claims that he has done it all saying "all these things I've done since I was a boy." Let me just say, this guy was strong. He might not have been jacked like we equate strength but to have stated empathetically that he was able to accomplish those things in his life, to have not given in to temptation, that he had lasted; this guy was strong. And watch, he's like "done... what's next?"

Strength is a funny thing... I think that it can give us a false sense of confidence, it can make us feel invincible, like we have no weaknesses. It didn't take Jesus long to find the weak spot. Look at what Mark says next "Jesus looked at him and loved him." I can just imagine Jesus looking at this guy, past the outward acts of strength which lifted up his confidences to the very heart of the matter, "One thing you lack, go sell all you have to the poor...follow me." I don't believe for a second that this passage is really hitting on money, that those that don't sell all that they own will be incapible of attain eternal life. While money is a major concern, and with the Young Man it is obviously his biggest concern, I believe that its not the primary point of what Jesus is saying. Once again, it says "Jesus looked at him." Jesus, awesome God that he is, look at the heart of the matter and saw what was true hinderance. While this Young Man had faced temptations and won that we might find impossible in our own lives he found himself lacking something. He strength had allowed him to acheive great things yet where did he lack? His problem was his strength. All of the things that Jesus had listed off were things that the man had accomplished; loving people, honouring people, not sinning, etc. yet there was not one act of dependancy among them all. Finally Jesus says to sell it all, all that he had amassed in his strength and follow, not lead, follow Christ.

Dependancy... its kind of like the antithesis to strength, isn't it? Here's why: with strength you have accomplished something, you did it, without you there could have been no victory while dependancy removes you from the equation. Dependancy requires humility and patience while you rely on others, strength demands action and accomplishment. On the face value I think I'd pick strength over dependancy 10 times out of 10. Who wouldn't want to be strong, to accomplish, to win? The biggest problem with our strength? Its the fact that it's our strength and, by our own nature, its not enough. Take a look at these verses:

Psalm 73:26 "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

1 Corinthians 1:25 "For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength."

2 Corinthians 12:9 "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

Isaiah 48:31 "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

I love that last one in Isaiah because it hits the point again and again that we all will fail. That even the strongest amongst us are going to stumble and fall and their strength will not help. Yet were told that in God is found true strength, everlasting strength, powerful strength which is not held back but given freely to those that hope in God. And were not dealing with an amateur here, God gives strength and God is stronger. Hebrews 1:3 says that God "upholds the universe by the word of his power." I'll give you a second to think about that for a second... Here I am, trying to open a jar of rasberry jam while God's holding the molecules in place. Well, it was close for a second...

So true strength comes from dependence, a complete reliance upon God to provide. While we might think that we have some form of strength on our own power, we all (like me growing up with Matt) find ourselves on our back in a hurry and questioning how strong we actually are. We always come face to face eventually with a situation, or a person, who is stronger than we are. And once again the point can be repeated "God is stronger" always. done. complete. end of discussion. So, when I come face to face with the next situation and I'm rolling up the sleeves, be with a tough situation or a difficult challenge I've found myself in, the real test is am I going to be strong enough to admit that I am weak.

The Everlasting

One of my absolute favourite movies is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Not that piffy new one but the amazing one with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. They did so much more in the first one, they went through that crazy bubble machine, it was golden eggs not possessed squirrels checking nuts, and the grampa joe was so much better that a comparison is not even necessary.

So you can imagine my pleasant surprise when I was watching TV and came across the classic version. As I watching it again I couldn't help but thinking about those everlasting gob stoppers. They sound like the coolest thing ever, never minding the fact that they look like miniature koosh balls (a huge plus in my books). Maybe it was time of night (late...) or was because I was chewing a now flavourless piece of gum but those gob stoppers looked crazy tempting. I could really understand why the bad guy (Slugworth?) was trying to get a hold of one. Gum that never goes bad? Never stops work? Never loses its appeal? Who wouldn't buy it?

Why? Because it's everlasting. I mean, all it takes is one and the problem is solved. Imagine if you slapped the "Everlasting" title and any number of products today. Everlasting jeans: jeans that never fade or rip, everlasting batteries: one change and then never again, everlasting ice cream: enjoy...

What about slapping on the everlasting to the concept of father? Everlasting father? I was reading Isaiah 9 recently and was really struck again with the title of Christ "Everlasting Father". I think sometimes it gets lost in the shuffle of all of the other absolutely ridiculously cool titles Jesus gets in the verse. Why is it so important? Of course God is everlasting, I mean, you don't run out of God, right? By the very nature of God, it means that he doesn't grow old and die, that he lasts forever. So why the need to place everlasting father in there?

I actually love this the most, this concept of God's everlasting fatherhood. It is probably the most real picture of God for us today. Lets take it in reverse:

Father: Often times people are so hostile to the gospel, to Christ, to this believed impersonal God standing on high proscribing does and don'ts. Yet the picture presented here is of an incredibly personal God. Its a tradition in my house at University to write our favorite verses on our living room wall. My new housemate this year chose Psalm 68:5 "God is the father to the fatherless and protector of the widow, is God in his holy living." I could not remember having heard this before and was struck by the personalness of the verse. That God's very dwelling is in his identity as a father. The dangerous thing about this comparison is that to large segments of the population, the father does not reflect a positive image. While the father is meant to guide, protect, comfort, and sacrifice for his child, the image we most often see is the broken and failed system of fatherhood all to common in today's world. Sadly, at best fathers are still not perfect and fail either by direct pain or the indirect inability to retain a constant vigil while at worst fathers have become the ultimate villain in our world. So why invoke a picture of the father?

Everlasting: So have you caught my all to evident illustration in the beginning as to the importance of everlasting? To everlast means to never fail, to never stop, to never go bad. This is the part that is absolutely awesome about this illustration. Everlasting and Father fit together perfectly. The very deficiencies of fatherhood are solved. God is the everlasting father in that he is the personal protector, comforter, and guardian of his child and he never fails, stops, or stands in ignorance to our needs.

So what does this mean? Why even write? Every year I can't help but notice the students around me desperatly searching for the everlasting and the personal. The manner and the means of which they fill this void only deepens my sorrow. At best they fill it with friendship, school work, and community service. The Christian community is not suddenly immune from this either; so eager to fill the void with empty religious ministry while standing on the verge of actually knowing God. So often we trade in an actual relational, vibrant, passionate following of Christ with ministry; an esstential need in the church but, as Christ told Martha in Luke 10:41, are not neccary when compared with the primacy of Christ. We flee from one solution to the other hoping to find the everlasting and when it, as all things do, ends we crash. Yet here, in Isaiah 9, we are told that God is the Everlasting Father. That when we turn to him we discover that we not only find something that finally last but actually encouter the one who will never end.