Delicate Balance of the Christian Walk

Uphold my steps in Your paths, that my footsteps may not slip.
Psalm 17:5

Of all the activities in life that require good balance, the tightrope walker certainly has the most difficult and most high-stakes task. If the waiter drops the tray of food, there will be a big mess and likely some angry customers. But if the tightrope walker falls, well, let’s hope there’s a safety net or he’s done.

It’s astounding to read about some of the crazy things daredevils like Charles Blondin have done on tightropes strung across Niagara Falls for example. Google it. You won’t believe it.

Sometimes as Christians we feel like we’re walking a tightrope. One wrong move and we’ll plunge to our eternal doom. And some people think of God as a sadistic spectator, the jaded audience to a gladiator sport, just waiting for that moment when we crash and burn.

Of course this is not the reality. In reality, God IS the safety net.

But there are things about the Christian life that do require a great deal of balance. For tightrope walkers, the objective is to get from one end to the other; the danger zone is in the middle. But with the character traits that we’re supposed to be developing, at either end is an extreme that is unhealthy or undesirable. Our objective with virtues is to stay balanced in the middle.

For example, consider the virtue of humility. “I’m a miserable sinner” (degradation) is an important realization, but it shouldn’t be the main focus for Christians in day-to-day life because, after all, our current status is “redeemed.” On the other hand, if we only ever think about the assurance of forgiveness without any self-reflection, we risk developing a sense of entitlement (pride). We have to hold these two competing ideas together in tension.

We also have to balance the fact that we are physical creatures but also spiritual beings; made of the dust, yet also made in the image of God.

Another pair of competing notions would be the need to be “in the world but not of the world,” as the saying goes. We are supposed to “come out from among [unbelievers] and be separate,” (2 Corinthians 6:17), but we are also supposed to “go into all the world” (Mark 16:15) and teach the gospel. We need to build relationships with unbelievers in order to bring them to Christ, but it’s a delicate balancing act to make sure we are not negatively influenced by worldliness.

We need to avoid extremes when talking to people about sin. Sometimes we might be so concerned about offending a person or causing discord that we fail to speak the truth. At the other end, sometimes we’re so eager to vent our disapproval that we use “speaking the truth” as an excuse for being unkind. Ephesians 4:15 requires the balance of “speaking the truth in love.”

Our views on grace and works should also reflect the scriptural balance. If you talk about grace but never works, you may become lazy or start to see salvation as a license to sin. But if you emphasize works over grace, you become like the Pharisees, taking pride in checking boxes without any love for God.

Wisdom and faith should also help us avoid the extremes of fear and, at the other end, taking foolish risks. (Maybe like tightrope walking across Niagara Falls, for example.)

Yes, the Christian life does require a delicate balance. But don’t think of it as walking a tightrope or even as being a restaurant server carrying a full tray. Think of it as a being dancer who practices every graceful turn and leap until the beauty of perfect balance is achieved.

The next time you feel yourself struggling to maintain the proper balance in your Christian walk, consider these words from Proverbs 4:25-27:

Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.

And pray to God as the psalmist did in Psalm 17:5: “Uphold my steps in your paths, that my footsteps may not slip.”

Dear Heavenly Father, without the guidance of Your Holy Spirit I would surely go to inappropriate extremes. Please help me by Your power to be more and more like Jesus, who was our perfect example in every virtue. In His name, Amen.

by Christie Cole Atkins

For another interesting way to look at the virtues, check this out: https://virtuewheel.com/