Have you ever felt so strongly about something that you talked about it passionately to everyone you knew? Was it a product? person? theory? parenting method? political candidate? political issue? biblical conviction? I know I have. I've been riled up about all of these areas at one point or another. And I don't think that's always bad.
But sometimes, it is. Sometimes it can cause broken relationships and broken hearts. Sometimes we can put our strong feelings (which we know wax and wane) ahead of the feelings of others. Sometimes it can lead us into legalism or judgmentalism, heaping rules of men onto the shoulders of others. Sometimes we can become so sure of ourselves that we fail to graciously present what it is Christ may be leading us to feel convicted about.
I recently heard a great word about life in general, but it also applies to nearly every issue we consider in life. It is this:
Thinking of Jesus, He was full of grace and truth. He did cast out the money changers in anger, but then He also was kind to the lowest of the low. He had virtually no patience for the religious leaders, but He was completely gentle with vile sinners. He turned to Peter and said, "Get thee behind me, Satan!" (How would you like to hear that?), but also washed Peter's feet as a servant. There is a balance, but it is such a narrow place: a place of grace and truth.
It is so easy to fall into a "ditch" on either side of an issue:
- to be too lenient or too strict with our children-- the hard thing is to find the balance between obedience and grace
- to be too legalistic or too permissive in our faith-- the hard thing is to be neither judgmental nor worldly in our pursuit of God
- to be too wrapped up in or totally unconcerned about politics-- the hard thing is to find the proper place for politics in our priorities
- to be too concerned with the "gray areas" or to not even consider the personal convictions in life-- the hard thing is to feel personally convicted about something without having to criticize others who either (1) feel freedom in that area, or (2) may not yet have been 'pricked' by the Holy Spirit in that area.
What are the issues in your life where you struggle to "stay on the road"?
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