Articles
Life: A Balancing Act
My dad used to enjoy balancing a broom on his foot, and on one occasion, a sword on his chin while sitting in a chair on a ship in the Mediterranean Sea! To perform these feats he kept his eye on the object and his body in motion in order to keep whatever he was balancing in a vertical position. In other words, successful balance requires constant attention and continual adjustment.
And so with life. It’s quite the challenge, to say the least, to avoid extremes and find a happy medium. One of my dad’s favorite passages was: “Give me neither poverty nor riches . . . that I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God” (Prov. 30:8-9 NASB). That’s one kind of balance.
Jesus took time to be with people and He also made time to be alone with God. He included both positive and negative in His preaching—and in the right proportion. In His teaching He stressed both duty to God and man (Matt. 22:15-22, 35-40). He healed people’s physical infirmities but also ministered to their spiritual needs. He was the perfect model of balance.
The Pharisees, in contrast, were not balanced. They emphasized relatively minor things while neglecting higher priorities (Matt. 23:23). The results were not good.
James 1:27 teaches that pure religion involves both meeting people’s needs and keeping oneself unspotted from the world. Neither benevolence without morality, nor morality without benevolence. Both. How easy it is to focus on one, while disregarding the other!
May God grant us enough common sense and biblical insight to recognize when we’re out of balance, so we can adjust accordingly.
