Is balance about either/or? Or is it about both/and?
Camp meeting was only a week ago and yet it feels like an eternity. For those of you who don't know what camp meeting is. We set up a camp ground with large pavilion type tents, wire in infrastructure, fill up every space with tents and RVs, and then we hold spiritual meetings for a week with 15,000 people when all is said and done.
I was coordinating the youth tent this year. We had 150 high school students for the first few days and then up to 400 on the weekend. We had a great, very intense, and full week. One of the things I learned to do when we were on the road with a youth ministry team was to finish the week off with a word from each of us. We would play some really fun loud music and have a great time and then sit down for a "last words" chat. So I decided to do the same thing in the youth tent this year. All 7 of the youth pastors who were working in the youth tent were invited up front to share what was on there heart. If they could share one thing with the kids from the week what would it be?
It was a really great evening. We had a freshly graduated high school band, thank you arboretum, rock the walls of the tent and then we sat down for a chat. There were 6 of us up there, and there were 6 different perspectives shared. Here's the thing about the 6 most important things that were shared. They were all the most important thing. None of them was less important than the others. It really wasn't a matter of either or, pick and choose, go with what fits best with you. It was not just both/and but all/and. Every single perspective was good, needed, and yes the most important thing.
I was reminded of this when I was reading Hebrews 13. 13 is the last chapter of the book. These are the finishing admonitions of the author to their audience. When some one is about to die we listen closely to the last words they have to say. When we are finishing a letter we want the most important things to be said last. It has been studied and revealed people remember the first thing and the last thing we say the most. So we want the last things to count.
So how do we bring all of the last things in Hebrews together? Focus on loving one another these are good gifts to God. Come out of the city to the new blood of the covenant with Jesus. Marriages are important, keep the marriage bed pure, no sexual immorality. Be content with what you have don't chase after money. Strengthen yourself with grace not ceremonial foods.
So many different things, so what is the most important? How are we suppose to balance all of these varying statements? Be strengthened by grace, but act out your faith. Isn't this a contradiction, or at least two sides of the scale that need to be balanced?
NO
It's not either/or it's both/and. 100% on all of them. 100% strengthened by grace. 100% pure and free from sexual immorality. 100% loving others. 100% acceptance of the new covenant of Jesus' blood. 100% for everything for all of it. Yes, yes to all.
When we live out our lives for the cause of Christ we give it all. We live by grace towards those around us without judging them as worse then ourselves. We do this 100%. We also call them out of their sin and encourage them to be pure and to step out of any immoral relationship, to be content with their money, to share their resources with others. We do this 100% as well. We are saved by grace and we life out grace 100%.
I hope this can get through to me and my brain as well as to you. It's not a balancing act is all at 100%. I am a father 100%, I am a pastor 100%, I am a husband 100%, I am a friend 100%, I work at my job 100%, and I spend time with my family 100%.
May we give our all today, may we not do either/or, may we be and do all in all. God is the one who will strengthen us to do it 100% and we are the ones who will respond to him 100%. May we live life to the fullest...100%!
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