Balancing the Tightrope

We’ve all seen the diagrams like the one directly below. Some people probably even use something like this for witnessing, that’s another blog though. (I drew these diagrams by myself. that’s why they are so poorly done.)

We are standing at the fork in the road and we need to make a decision. Will we take the easier, wider, more used path called the ‘Road to Destruction’ (sounds welcoming doesn’t it?) or will we choose the narrow path, that few will take, called the ‘Road to Eternal Life.’ Matthew 7:13-14 says “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” This is where most people get the imagery. I’m not sure why we all picture the wide road and the narrow road the way we do as in this diagram. They look so separated. As if they never could get confused and it’s so easy to note the difference all the time. It makes it look black and white. No grey. This isn’t very realistic; in my life at least. One second I could be on the straight and narrow and within five minutes find myself on the broad path. Other times I’ll be walking both roads at once. It’s confusing. I’m sure you’ve been there.

As I read through the bible, live my life and observe other lives I realize that a diagram like this isn’t accurate at all. The bible is a book of moderation and balance. Not a book that is black and white, but grey all over. To live life fully, you will find that it will only come from living it in balance. My one teacher from Tyndale taught a class and I think it should have been called ‘Balance’ cause if you understood that word in relation to your Christian life you were sure to come out with a decent mark. I never understood it that much at the time. Over the past two years since I’ve been in that class I am coming to grips with that word. Balance.

I thought that instead of the above diagram, life is more like this one.

I’m constantly trying to balance my life between hundreds of different contrasts. Faith and Culture. Love for God and love for people. Liberalism and Conservatism. We have to balance our time correctly between our family, work, church and all of our other commitments. We have to balance where we spend our money. That’s just to name a few. I started to realize how important this was last summer. I spent a lot of time with friends and with church and made no time at all for my family. It took a toll on my relationships with everyone in my family, and it’s something that I don’t plan on doing again. It’s something I struggle with constantly in my love for other people. When do I show grace and mercy or when to give discipline and offer correction? When do I show my anger or do I push it aside and put on a smile? How much money do I really need for myself? It’s extremely difficult to live a life of balance. That’s why I think that life is a lot more like the second diagram.

Christ lived a life of balance. He took time alone, he took time with friends, he took time with crowds. He was gracious, angry, loving and courageous. He corrected those in the wrong but someone how did it in a way that you would never question his compassion for them (for instance the rich man). He loved God and equally loved people.

We are challenged to do the same. It’s not good to go overboard on anything. Anything in access is harmful. Alcohol, sex, money, church, technology, traveling, cosmetics, clothes, cars, toys, books; all these things can be good in and of themselves. In access they bring destruction to your life. All of them. Yes, even church. The point has never been to eliminate these things. That’s conservatism at its finest. The point also hasn’t been to indulge in them either; that’s liberalism at its peak. Both ways is taking the easy way out. Cutting it out is saying that you just don’t want to have to learn to have self-control. You create a fence around any possibility of sin and eventually you end up only working out a Christian work-out clubs listening to Christian music with your Christian friends eating sandwiches made by a Christian bakery. Then just giving in to them and having everything all the time in excess is unhealthy also. To bad it’s not easy.

There is a reason why it’s the narrow road. It’s a hard road to stay on. We can step off of it on either side. The broad path of life is on either side of us trying to draw us in with its rules and freedoms. Maybe when the verse above talks about destruction and life it isn’t just talking about the final destination that the roads lead to. It is also talking about the road itself. When you live on the narrow road in the middle, it is a journey full of life. When you venture off to either side it only leads to destruction and discontent.

We are pretty much walking a tightrope in the middle. It’s supposed to be hard. Really, we aren’t supposed to be able to do it on our own. The Holy Spirit empowers us and Christ’s grace covers us. We don’t beat ourselves up when we veer, we simply keep going. It’s hard, but it’s worth it because it’s such a more fulfilling life than anything else.