Balance
I think the concept of balance is a very important one. But one must have a proper view of balance itself. One might say that the concept of balance needs to be balanced. I think that the concept of the yin and yang has given a somewhat misleading understanding of the concept of balance and may have even caused us Christians to somewhat neglect it's importance.
Proverbs 11:1 says, "A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight." The biblical view of balance is not necessarily 50/50. This is often what we think of when we think "balance." For example, some people believe that good and evil are in balance and that if one becomes predominant over the other then the other will increase in order to balance them out. And so they believe that there is a sort of 50/50 balance between good and evil.
The problem is that the means of measuring the balance must be defined. Is it the size or the weight which we are testing? If it is the size, then we might as well say that 50/50 is the balance. But we know that a huge cardboard box may not be nearly as heavy as a small rock or brick. The cardboard box takes more space, but the brick weighs more. The key to balance is that it is not always 50/50. Perhaps the balanced ratio is 4:1 or 5:10. It just depends on what you are measuring.
Let's think about this morally. If you were to apply the concept of a 50/50 balance morally you might as well say that for every lie you tell you have to tell the truth, and for every truth you tell you have to tell a lie in order to balance it out. For example, if you told the truth 10 times today, you would have to tell a lie 10 times or 10 lies in order to "balance out the scales" and be living a "balanced life." Now I don't know of anyone who actually thinks in terms like this, but there are people who have a skewed view of balance which accumulates into this.
This is not the biblical view of balance. The biblical view of balance is whatever is right or whatever is true. A biblical balance is whatever agrees with the nature and character of God. A false balance is called an abomination to God. Another word that we could use to call it is sin. An unbiblical view of the concept of balance results in a false measurement which in turn results in a false balance. And so we might as well say that a false balance (that is, not the resulting measurement but the means by which we obtain the measurement) is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. What I mean is that if we do not know how two or more things properly fit together then we end up overemphasising one and underemphasizing the other. This results in a wrong view of whatever we are looking at which often results in a wrong application of that thing.
Let me make this a little more practical. We know that God is holy. We also know that he is love. How do the two fit together when you relate God to undeserving sinful people who deserve justice and yet it is God's nature and character to love those people regardless. How you view and balance God's holiness and love will impact the way you view God and thus the way you react when you read His written word and deal with sin in your life and even affect your relationships with others. For example, an over emphasis on God's holiness to the degree that it under emphasises God's love might lead to legalism while an over emphasis on God's love to the degree that it under emphasises his holiness might lead to licentiousness. Sound like a mouth full? It is a deep issue, but a very important and practical one and it can also be simply understood.
Theologians will say that Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man. I believe this is the biblical view. Notice it is not 50/50 (50% man and 50% God). No, it is 100/100. Do we understand this? I don't fully understand it. God is too great for my mind to fully grasp. The proper balance in this is not 50/50, but 100/100. Anything other than this is a false balance if this is indeed the biblically accurate view.
I think a proper view of balance may help solve diversities of divisions in the body of Christ. I think there are times when believers over emphasise a particular doctrine (in teaching or in practice) to the extent that they under emphasize another one. Sometimes, a particular doctrine may be over emphasised in the attempt to balance out an imbalance and in the process go to far. For example, there may be an imbalance between the law and the gospel of grace to the extent that the law is removed from it's rightful position to reveal sin to the sinner. In an attempt to balance out the scales, one may emphasize the rightful purpose of the law in showing a sinner of his or her need for the Saviour but in the process may over emphasise it to the point where the gospel of grace is under emphasized thus resulting in the danger of a subtle form of legalism.
Proverbs 11:1 says, "A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight." The biblical view of balance is not necessarily 50/50. This is often what we think of when we think "balance." For example, some people believe that good and evil are in balance and that if one becomes predominant over the other then the other will increase in order to balance them out. And so they believe that there is a sort of 50/50 balance between good and evil.
The problem is that the means of measuring the balance must be defined. Is it the size or the weight which we are testing? If it is the size, then we might as well say that 50/50 is the balance. But we know that a huge cardboard box may not be nearly as heavy as a small rock or brick. The cardboard box takes more space, but the brick weighs more. The key to balance is that it is not always 50/50. Perhaps the balanced ratio is 4:1 or 5:10. It just depends on what you are measuring.
Let's think about this morally. If you were to apply the concept of a 50/50 balance morally you might as well say that for every lie you tell you have to tell the truth, and for every truth you tell you have to tell a lie in order to balance it out. For example, if you told the truth 10 times today, you would have to tell a lie 10 times or 10 lies in order to "balance out the scales" and be living a "balanced life." Now I don't know of anyone who actually thinks in terms like this, but there are people who have a skewed view of balance which accumulates into this.
This is not the biblical view of balance. The biblical view of balance is whatever is right or whatever is true. A biblical balance is whatever agrees with the nature and character of God. A false balance is called an abomination to God. Another word that we could use to call it is sin. An unbiblical view of the concept of balance results in a false measurement which in turn results in a false balance. And so we might as well say that a false balance (that is, not the resulting measurement but the means by which we obtain the measurement) is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. What I mean is that if we do not know how two or more things properly fit together then we end up overemphasising one and underemphasizing the other. This results in a wrong view of whatever we are looking at which often results in a wrong application of that thing.
Let me make this a little more practical. We know that God is holy. We also know that he is love. How do the two fit together when you relate God to undeserving sinful people who deserve justice and yet it is God's nature and character to love those people regardless. How you view and balance God's holiness and love will impact the way you view God and thus the way you react when you read His written word and deal with sin in your life and even affect your relationships with others. For example, an over emphasis on God's holiness to the degree that it under emphasises God's love might lead to legalism while an over emphasis on God's love to the degree that it under emphasises his holiness might lead to licentiousness. Sound like a mouth full? It is a deep issue, but a very important and practical one and it can also be simply understood.
Theologians will say that Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man. I believe this is the biblical view. Notice it is not 50/50 (50% man and 50% God). No, it is 100/100. Do we understand this? I don't fully understand it. God is too great for my mind to fully grasp. The proper balance in this is not 50/50, but 100/100. Anything other than this is a false balance if this is indeed the biblically accurate view.
I think a proper view of balance may help solve diversities of divisions in the body of Christ. I think there are times when believers over emphasise a particular doctrine (in teaching or in practice) to the extent that they under emphasize another one. Sometimes, a particular doctrine may be over emphasised in the attempt to balance out an imbalance and in the process go to far. For example, there may be an imbalance between the law and the gospel of grace to the extent that the law is removed from it's rightful position to reveal sin to the sinner. In an attempt to balance out the scales, one may emphasize the rightful purpose of the law in showing a sinner of his or her need for the Saviour but in the process may over emphasise it to the point where the gospel of grace is under emphasized thus resulting in the danger of a subtle form of legalism.
posted by aBranch at 9:42 PM
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