Something's Out of Balance

As I listened last night to President Obama and House Speaker Boehner present their case for how to raise the debt ceiling, I observed how they both used the word “balance.” In this budget battle, the President is pushing for a “balanced” approach (cutting costs and raising revenues) while the Speaker wants a “balanced” budget amendment. Each accuses the other of being “out of balance. “

I remember in the 1980’s when “balance” became the newest buzz-word. It seems the word is having a renaissance. But the former use of the word (a balanced lifestyle) has been amended to include compromise and tolerance—balancing one’s views with that of others, being more accepting and embracing of alternate worldviews and lifestyles. Anyone unwilling to compromise his beliefs is considered intolerant, out of touch, and out of balance.

Defining balance as such, any wholehearted, committed follower of Jesus will be out of balance. Look at Jesus. He was intolerant of hypocrisy. And while he loved sinners, he was uncompromising with sin. Nor was His a balanced lifestyle. He worked long hours, and had short nights, rising early to pray rather than sleep. And He often skipped meals, saying “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). Jesus determined when to eat and when to abstain, when to work and when to rest according to His Father. He did not seek to live in balance with this world, but to do the will of the Father.