The tyranny of balance and life to the full
In our ministries, may we let loose the good things and leave behind the banality of balance.
I am more likely to opt for a book than a movie on my day off, but last week I settled in to (finally!) watch the last instalment of the latest Star Wars trilogy.
Towards the end of the movie — SPOILERS AHEAD! — the young Jedi Rey finally connects with all the great Jedi of the past. Surrounded by this great crowd of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1-2 anyone?) Rey is told that she is the one who will bring balance to the force.
Balance. And yet, the climax of the movie could not possibly be described as balance. The light and dark sides of the force do not meet in happy equilibrium. Light dœs what light dœs, it completely overwhelms the darkness. This was no story of balance, but a gloriously one-sided victory of good over evil. There is something inescapably and wonderfully Christian about that narrative.
The Tyranny of Balance
Balance, however, seems to be one of the great goals of modern life. Consider the way we strive for work-life balance, or for balanced education, or a political balance between left and right. As Christians we can even think of trying to balance our zeal for the gospel without being too weird! Given two extremes, the reasonable, rational person wants to find themselves straddling the middle.
Yet, in the Scriptures you are not likely to find balance lifted up as one of life’s great aims. Indeed, someone like G.K. Chesterton can look at Christianity and say that its glory is in precisely the opposite. Christianity frees us from the tyranny of balance and invites us into a fullness of life.
Chesterton says:
Paganism declared that virtue was in a balance; Christianity declared it was in a conflict: the collision of two passions apparently opposite.
In his Word, God calls us both to hate what is evil and cling to what is good (Romans 12:9). To act against the darkness whole-heartedly, and embrace the light with equal passion. We are called to view our fellow humans as those with the inherent dignity of image-bearers, and as miserable sinners set in rebellion against the creator. We are to grow in our intolerance of sin, but also in our mercy towards sinners. There is unflinching realism and unbridled hope in the message of the gospel.
As Chesterton concludes his own thoughts on this matter he says,
And the more I considered Christianity, the more I found that while it had established a rule and order, the chief aim of that order was to give room for good things to run wild.
Balance be damned. Let goodness run wild in every direction all at once. Let light completely overwhelm the darkness as it spreads out from Christ at the center of all things. Chesterton dares to admit that life in the middle is not only a boring way to live, but also a naive view of all of life’s many complexities. The Christian life is not a balanced life. Rather, as our Lord declares, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
It is worth considering the implications of this for both children and young people, and our ministry to them.
An (un)balanced ministry
It would be possible to see the main challenge of youth and children’s ministry in terms of balance. For example, we must balance fun and excitement with teaching and seriousness. Similarly, we must balance evangelism/reaching the lost with discipleship/growing Christian faith. We must balance being obviously Christian by praying and reading the Bible, without being totally weird and irrelevant.
But perhaps balance is not the answer. What if we took hold of Chesterton’s sword, separated the extremes, and committed to a decidedly unbalanced ministry? Could we be irrepressibly joyful and undeniably deep across a whole program? Could we boldly proclaim the same gospel with clarity and force to unbelievers and believers alike, always calling kids to salvation, and urging kids to sanctification? Could the answer be to saturate our meetings with Scripture and soak our time in prayer, trusting that we are the most relevant place any child or young person could be, precisely because we are listening most to our Father in heaven, and not the fleeting voices of culture? In our ministries, may we let loose the good things and leave behind the banality of balance.
An (un)balanced childhood
At my high school, the buzzword was balance. Some schools strove for academic excellence, others pursued sporting glory, mine aimed to produce balanced “all- rounders”. It was a worthy goal in many ways, and one I think many Christian parents may share. We want our kids to be hard-working and active, perhaps playing an instrument as well as a sport, and then also committed to youth group and ministry.
It strikes me, however, that this pursuit of balance leads mostly to busyness. Like an entertainer frantically spinning plates, our kids are invested in so many different activities that sooner or later something has to give. Unfortunately, it is often easier to drop the church plate, as you haven’t paid any registration or school fees!
This does not mean that kids need to drop every other plate, or that every child must conform to some stock image of church commitment. Rather, it invites us to see faith as something that undergirds our whole life. Christianity is not a spinning plate we need to keep up in the air, rather it is the solid ground under our feet upon which we can build every other endeavor of our lives. There is tremendous freedom here for children and youth to pursue a whole range of different activities, without the pressure of doing all the activities required to become a “well- rounded” person.
As leaders we can encourage this by deeply engaging with the interests of young people and helping them to connect every sphere of life with message of the gospel. In love for each child, we don’t want to just get them in the door so they can hear our message. We want to share the message and our lives so we can send them out the door to live for Christ in all of life (c.f. 1 Thess 2:8). Christians after all are not aiming to be well-rounded, but well-grounded on the foundation of Christ and his word (cf Matthew 7:24-27).
And herein lies the irony. When we give up trying to find balance we can finally find our feet. And with the security of the Lord Jesus, we really can let the good things run wild and shine the glorious and all-conquering light of Christ into the world.
Patrick O'Keeffe is Assistant Minister - St Marks Anglican Church Northbridge.