From “The Will of God as a Way of Life,” Jerry Sittser wrote:
Balance is another concept we must understand. . . . Balance means establishing proper priorities, choosing to do what is most important rather than what is most urgent, and organizing our lives around our central commitments.
It does not take a genius to discern what good order in life should look like. In his Confessions Agustine argued that nothing in the world is inherently evil. Evil is simply a distortion of the good, a disordering of life. Thus marriage is a good thing, but making marriage the goal of our lives is a bad thing. Success is a good thing, but not if it comes at the expense of family, friendship, and community. Evil puts last things first and first things last. It debases what is pure and exalts what is base. Evil thrives by distorting proper priorities.
Augustine argued that we should cherish the use of God’s gifts, but not put them above God himself. We may seek all these things, O Lord, but in seeking them we must not deviate from your law. The life we live here is open to temptation by reason of a certain measure and harmony between its own splendors and all these beautiful things of lower degree. . . . Sin gains entrance through these and similar good things when we turn to them with immoderate desire, since they are the lowest kinds of goods and we thereby turn away from the better and higher: from you yourself, O Lord our God, and your truth and your law.4
For example we should not find fault with a man who restores cars as a hobby. If anything, we would probably watch him work his craft with great interest and awe. But if he neglected his wife and children to pursue his love of antique cars, we would conclude that his life is not ordered properly. Likewise, we may applaud a scholar for her diligent study of classical philosophy, but if she ignored friends and family for the sake of writing still another book, we would say her life lacks balance.
As a historian, I have studied the biographies of many great religious leaders, so I am well aware of the price they paid to fulfill their calling. I admire these leaders, although I do not always like what they sacrificed in order to succeed. John Wesley, for example, was unusually disciplined and dedicated. This eighteenth century evangelist presided over a spiritual revolution that changed England forever. He traveled over a quarter million miles on horseback and preached over forty thousand sermons to reach people for Christ. He died penniless because he gave all his money away. He was largely responsible for starting the Great Awakening in England. Yet his marriage was not happy and his friendships suffered because he was so unbalanced.
Many Christian leaders whose names are household words have accomplished great things for God but failed as husbands or wives, fathers or mothers, . . . and friends. They took advantage of the loyalty of their spouses without giving much in return, neglected their children because they were too busy, and used—or betrayed—their friends. I have watched several famous Christian leaders at a distance and observed with great sadness the contradiction between their public ministry and their private life.
Yet no one can deny the good they have done. . . . Balance is a principle, but it is not a law. We should strive for balance but recognize that it is not always possible. . . . ~Jerry Sittser, The Will of God as a Way of Life (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 2000, 2004) 194-95
There will be no posts until Monday. This is the weekend of general conference. You would be greatly blessed to watch (and keep notes!) as much of it as possible at: general conference, fall 2022
