The Christian Balancing Act

Balance is something about which I've heard and thought quite a bit through the years. Early in my Christian walk I heard a teacher point out one such balance, between the Holy Spirit and the Word. He said that if one focused entirely on the Word (using one's intellect and ignoring the Holy Spirit) one would dry up. On the other hand, he said that if one focused entirely on the Holy Spirit (ignoring the Word), one would get weird. Without the Holy Spirit, one's intellect tends toward legalism, hair-splitting, brittleness and pride. The Holy Spirit helps one remember that God can't be squeezed into a box. Remembering how big God is and being dependent on the Holy Spirit to recognize truth and keep it balanced with love and in balance also keeps one humble. On the other hand, "relying on the Holy Spirit" for "truth" while ignoring the truth revealed in the Word ends up being an exercise in self-deception, where "truth" ends up being whatever feels right, sometimes with a pretextual veneer of a Scriptural justification.

Also fairly early in my walk with the Lord, I had two very different pastors. One had a very strong emphasis on what God wanted His children to become in maturity. The other had a similarly very strong emphasis on practical day to day Christian character and living. After being in those churches, each for quite a few months, I realized that this also was a sort of imbalance. The needed balance is to know both where God wants to take us and the practical daily things we need to learn and become to get there.

Another point of balance is among knowing, doing and being. It's like a 3-legged stool. If one leg is missing or short, you tip over. You have to know who you are in Christ to know what things are right and why to do those things. You have to do things God says are right, or your knowing and being have no real value (and may not be real at all). You have to be in relationship with God, or your knowledge and doing lose their fundamental motivation.

A balance that will be with and challenge every believer life-long is between our personal responsibility and God's "responsibility" to work in and through us. We cannot be passive in our personal and spiritual growth, thinking that God will do it all. Nor can we become and do all God wants us to be in just our own strength and ability. This sets up a continual tension, one which continually impacts everything we do.