I'm a little skeptical of "balance" as a virtue. I understand that it has its place. Certain things won't work without balance. But sometimes balance may be a euphemism for mediocrity.
This is what I mean: When something is really important, I don't want balance. Soldier in a battle don't seek balance--it's a life and death struggle, so it take total commitment to survive. I've studied leadership for twenty years, and my experience is that great and exceptional people aren't balanced. In fact, many have fairly extreme personalities. It's the extremes that set them apart.
And when it comes to serving the God of the universe, who sacrificed His Son for our sin, I'm not so sure that we are called to balance. Jesus' commitment to us was extreme. He gave His life so that we can be forgiven. I'm wondering if we should consider more extreme obedience and love in return.
Balance has its place, but when something is really important, there's a place for the extreme.
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Andy - I recently stumbled across your blog. Continuing your thoughts on balance, I have included below one of our teaching pastor's thoughts on balance from his blog:
A couple of years ago, my friend Steve got a call at 3:00 in the morning from a doctor in Macon, GA. Steve was told that his daughter had been in a major car accident and was being rushed into emergency surgery.
“How bad is it on a scale of 1 to 10?” Steve wanted to know.
“Sir, this is a 15,” was the doctor’s reply. “Your daughter’s not going to make it through the night.”
I thought about that last Sunday as I watched Steve lead worship at The Bridge — with his daughter singing background vocals. And I thought about how inbalanced their lives have been over the last two years.
It reminded me of another problem I have with this whole concept of balance: it doesn’t take into account the seasons of our lives.
Balance doesn’t mean a whole lot to someone who just heard the word “cancer” from a doctor. Life suddenly becomes all about one thing: beating the disease.
Balance seems like a joke to a mother of young children.
Balance isn’t on the radar screen for newlyweds.
A church planter preparing to launch. A farmer during the harvest season. A runner in training for a marathon.
There are seasons in life when balance is not and should not be the highest goal.
In fact, sometimes our quest for balance is really a mask hiding what we’re really questing after: a more manageable life, a more comfortable life, a life ordered according to our own priorities rather than God’s.
Amen to all of that. Balance seems to be a synonym for my drug of choice: control. I'm slowly trying to break my addiction. See you in the commons.
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