Note: I wrote this a year and a half ago, but never published it. I guess I felt like it was an unfinished thought. I ran across it and decided to publish it anyway...
Ahh, balance. This seems to be the theme of my life right now. Not that I exhibit this quality, but I seem to be encountering it and talking about it a lot. I see us as Americans (and Christians in particular) finding something that we believe in and taking it to an extreme. Let's take politics for instance since it's already termed left-wing and right-wing. We pick a side and run full force at it. While I admire passion and commitment in people I think that going to one side of the road while ignoring the other isn't healthy. I think we need to go down the middle of the road. I don't mean we should be wishy washy or luke warm, but that we need to find a balance. Let me speak in spiritual terms/church-talk. On the left we have legalism and on the right we have freedom. Some would jump with full force to the side of legalism and say that by no means can we ever alow X to happen while others will say God gives me the freedom to do whatever I want so I am going to indulge in X. Because of what Christ accomplished, we are now free from the restrictions of the law, but in acting out our faith (salvation that we obtained by grace) we will naturally follow the law because of the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Ahh, balance. This seems to be the theme of my life right now. Not that I exhibit this quality, but I seem to be encountering it and talking about it a lot. I see us as Americans (and Christians in particular) finding something that we believe in and taking it to an extreme. Let's take politics for instance since it's already termed left-wing and right-wing. We pick a side and run full force at it. While I admire passion and commitment in people I think that going to one side of the road while ignoring the other isn't healthy. I think we need to go down the middle of the road. I don't mean we should be wishy washy or luke warm, but that we need to find a balance. Let me speak in spiritual terms/church-talk. On the left we have legalism and on the right we have freedom. Some would jump with full force to the side of legalism and say that by no means can we ever alow X to happen while others will say God gives me the freedom to do whatever I want so I am going to indulge in X. Because of what Christ accomplished, we are now free from the restrictions of the law, but in acting out our faith (salvation that we obtained by grace) we will naturally follow the law because of the leading of the Holy Spirit.
