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Twitter Writer: Annabelle Ang-Bok
Photo credit: Christopher Tan
The day before this issue was scheduled to go live online, I threw out the half-thought-through-half-scribbled article I had in the works and started writing this one. I had originally wanted to write about finding a harmonious balance in life based on Biblical principles, but somewhere in the past 36 hours I realised that the further we move into the endtimes, the more important it becomes for us to realign our concept of balance with that of the Lord’s.
Balance, you say? This sort of writerly whim is the antithesis of balance! Come back to earth, Annabelle!
I disagree. Too many of us believers have been lulled into thinking that “all things in moderation” is a Christian concept—it isn’t. This notion of shunning black-and-white binary systems of understanding and encouraging plurality of all sorts is not found in Scripture. You really cannot get more extreme than Jesus, who made some truly radical statements which cannot be interpreted to occupy middle ground or grey areas:
- He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 10:37–39)
- He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. (Matthew 12:30)
- …whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. (Mark 8:38)
- No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Luke 16:13)
- …It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. (Matthew 13:11–12)
You may be wondering what relevance these verses have with the idea of balance. Well, the main definitions of “balance” include “a state of equilibrium”, “a wheel that regulates the rate of movement in a machine”, “equivalent counterbalancing weight”, and “exact correspondence of form on opposite sides of a dividing line or plane”. Now consider the above quotations in the light of the following ones:
- For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. (Isaiah 60:2)
- …God is light and in Him is no darkness at all… the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. (1 John 1:5, 2:8–10)
- Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptised will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15–16)
- …be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work… fulfil your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:5)
- You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavour, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. (Matthew 5:13)
It is clear that as far as God is concerned, the only true balance is found in Him—Himself, His purpose, His call. There is no middle ground because He is the life source; as created beings, we are literally dead and non-existent apart from Him. And as the devil steps up his activity on this planet in view of the coming End, so too must we step up our efforts to know our God and do His will: As His representative body on the earth, His presence in and through us is the only thing keeping reality as we know it from simply unravelling… In a sense, we have been charged with keeping the balance of this universe.
Christ’s commands give us no room for meandering, especially in these perilous times. All around us we see evidence of the growing darkness that Isaiah prophesied, all around we see the necessity of our rising up to be everything that we are meant to be in Him. But the scales are seemingly tipped in the enemy’s favour—the Church is still far, far off from carrying out the “greater works” that Jesus declared she would do (John 14:10–14).
Friends, I believe it’s time to renew our minds and realign our thinking with that of the Holy Spirit. We the Church can ill afford to remain quiescent and passive. Pick up your Bibles and start arming yourself for war in earnest—there is much to be done, and if we would only get up and step out in faith, we would see the power of the Lord manifested in and through us just as He has promised. Arise and shine, for the glory of the Lord is risen upon you (Isaiah 60:1), and bring your world back into balance in preparation for the King’s imminent return!
A good case against Christian compromise. It’d be thrilling to see His church (especially in Singapore, I presume?) taking the ground He wants to give, establishing His kingdom on earth.
I don’t typically reply to articles, but as I was mulling over related issues yesterday, which then came up in Bible study, I thought I’d seize this chance to organise my thoughts:
At the end of Luke 9 (don’t be lazy, just turn to it), we see 3 could-be followers of Jesus being challenged by Him. His challenges don’t address common examples of compromise (whichever usual instance of Christian worldliness you prefer). The last 2 challenges always seemed almost unfair.
“High stakes, Jesus. Not even my father’s burial?” I’m guessing many Asian Christians would consider this an absurd demand of “radical Christianity.” Hypothetically, if writing the Bible were left to their human imagination and logic, they probably wouldn’t have dreamt this one up. God wants us to honour our parents, no?
So, what does “full-on,” radical Christianity look like? What is perfect obedience? Jesus’s life is the picture of perfect obedience. Yet, it too defies tidy appraisal. But the mechanical application of principles does not readily work even for His life.
As a thought experiment, take for example Matt 10:37-39 and the exhortation for the saints to honour their parents. Then put boy Jesus–suddenly incognito so the situation can’t be prejudged–before a human arbiter. As He stayed behind in Jerusalem, well aware that His family had left without Him and would come to worry, wouldn’t He have been perceived as “dishonouring” His parents? And when He soon after submitted to them, wouldn’t that have been perceived as flouting Matt 10:37-39?
Surely arguable. But keep in mind I am not talking of whether Jesus sinned. We know He did not. I am just trying to highlight the difficulty (not impossibility) of forming unyielding behavioural policies based on principle alone.
Another example might be circumcision: In Gal 5:2, Paul writes that Christ is of no advantage to those who accept circumcision, yet he circumcised Timothy.
Not that all this can’t be explained, but that one, with only Gal 5:2 firmly in mind, would never have circumcised Timothy. And having circumcised someone without knowing Gal 5:2, one would never have penned it in such seemingly certain terms. Taking a principle and applying it wholesale is problematic.
The reason why I say this is because your thesis had shifted from one concerning harmonious, moderate balance to one of full-on, pedal-to-the-metal principles to be applied wholesale. It is hearing the Spirit in season that allows us to navigate the paradoxes, many wiser than I have said.
(Bear with me…I probably have a few more paragraphs to go!)
The prescription of pedal-to-the-metalness as a principle to get people to desire God’s kingdom, then, seems a tool ill-suited to its ends. The ones whom you called to arise probably simply aren’t primed to respond. Some reasons on which I won’t elaborate too much, to save time and space:
1. The Kingdom of God has not been demonstrated as attractive or attainable to them. The parable of the pearl tells us it’s meant to be attractive. Jesus’s disciples preached the gospel of the kingdom while demonstrating its goodness–disease healed, demons cast out, etc. The “God is taking this world back” message was *shown* real, and it captivated people. I think “performing” the supernatural Kingdom of God, through power and love, is the best advertising for it.
2. They think they believe correctly and strongly, but may lack thorough and/or honest introspection. For example, the Luke 9 guy who wanted to bury his father before following Jesus either did not believe in eternity, or hadn’t considered human tradition in light of eternity. A virulent strain of eternititis would unseat a good deal of world-love in the church. An active, genuine devotion can only be sustained by firmly held Truth…the mere appearance of passion in worship is no substitute. I’m not sure why I had to say that.
3. Their brethren aren’t moving either.
4. The lie that Kingdom service = second to world-glammed marketplace gigs, mutually exclusive to God-given marketplace gigs, poverty, mistreatment and suffering, etc. This can cause Christians to drag their feet as they heed His call, whatever it may be. The most common notion of lordship is the one seen through the eyes of a Christian focused on His tall, difficult demands and unaware of His love, generosity, dominance, and victory. His lordship is slandered when His vassals live with a straggler mentality. They only hear Him say, “Whoever shall give up his life for me,” and don’t hear the concluding “shall find it.” They only hear Him say, “Whoever shall give up his life for me,” and don’t remember that He’s given His. But we are actually winners. Because our God can’t help but be glorious and victorious, everything He does is cool and worthy. He endured the cross the same way–by setting His sights on the joy to be won and despising the shame.
Just so you know, and just because I can’t be bothered to think how to conclude this thing, I have recently become a very angry person. PLEASE pray!
Dear Daniel, we have been praying, despite the fact that we didn’t respond quickly. I, as the writer of this particular post, am really not sure how to respond to your many good points in just one reply… especially since these questions have been debated by various others in the faith with no consensus in conclusion. I hope you have had your feelings sorted out better by now? Hopefully we find more common ground in other aspects, and I hope that you have enjoyed the other articles we have on our site. Thanks for commenting!