All the most important things about the Christian life are about balance. I wish I had a dime for every time I've said or thought this. Why balance? Because it's impossible for us to keep. If we could find the magic formula that kept us perfectly balanced in all circumstances, then...we wouldn't need Jesus. And if you don't need Jesus, you can't be a Christian.
I know that seems elementary, but from what I've been reading in the blogosphere...not so much. All references to sin, confession of sin, and the need of a savior are being systematically removed from "Christianity." It's mind boggling.
A little bit ago, a blog post from a popular Christian blogger who is a wife and mom (Jen Hatmaker) went viral. "Worst Mom Ever," it was called. She even ended up on The Today Show. Pretty cool!
A little bit later, I ran into another article. "The Very Worst Trend Ever: How our love of brokenness actually fails us."http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2013/july/very-worst-trend.html Also an excellent article. I have been thinking about it ever since.
When I read Jen Hatmaker's article some time ago, my mind put it into the category "For entertainment purposes only." There is a certain way of communicating that exists in our culture that is very....familiar...sarcastic...light-hearted...that is designed to bring humor to everyday situations. I see it in the television shows kids watch on Disney and Nickelodeon, I see it in the way my kids interact with each other and their peers, I see it on FaceBook and Twitter, I see it in the way that I communicate with my own friends and colleagues, and I definitely see it in the blog writing that I read. That communication pattern is the real trend, in my opinion. Let's face it, trying to communicate something through an online media is...difficult. It's exhausting to read too...but I digress.
No one ACTUALLY thinks that they are the worst mom ever for forgetting to sign school papers, making costumes at the last minute, or feeding their kid cheetos for breakfast. I think I could make a good argument that you might be the worst mom ever if you never did those things. Can you imagine how damaging it would be to grow up with a perfect mother? Anyway, worst foodie mom, worst PTA mom, worst granola crunching mom, worst suburban mom...maybe. But if anyone thinks they are actually the worst mom ever because of any of these things, they have a serious problem with perspective. (I've read enough of Jen Hatmaker's stuff to know that she doesn't appear to have this problem.)
My conclusion is that some people need to lighten up...
And yet...
when I ask my fifth graders, "Do you know what that's called when you do or say such and such?" And they say, "Disobedient" "Unkind" "Not honoring to the Lord" (all good answers) and I say, "Yes, it's all those things and it's also a SIN...they look at me like I've just used a curse word. I think we have to call sin "sin" for our children's sake. If you don't sin, you don't need Jesus, remember? And not knowing about your spiritual poverty is not good.
So I need to ask myself when I do those "real" and "broken" things: Am I being lazy? Is my plate too full? Are my priorities in the right order?
Consider this:
O Lord,
I have a wild heart
And cannot stand before thee;
I am like a bird before a man.
How little I love thy truth and ways!
I neglect prayer,
By thinking I have prayed enough and earnestly,
By knowing thou hast saved my soul.
Of all hypocrites, grant that I may not be an evangelical hypocrite,
Who sins more safely because grace abounds,
Who tells his lusts that Christ’s blood cleanseth them,
Who reasons that God cannot cast him into hell, for his is saved,
Who loves evangelical preaching, churches, Christians, but lives
Unholily.
My mind is a bucket without a bottom,
With no spiritual understanding,
No desire for the Lord’s Day,
Ever learning but never reaching the truth,
Always at the gospel-well but never holding water.
My conscience is without conviction or contrition,
With nothing to repent of.
My will is without power of decision or resolution.
My heart is without affection, and full of leaks.
My memory has no retention,
So I forget so easily the lessons learned,
And thy truths seep away.
Give me a broken heart that yet carries home the water of grace.
(Taken from The Valley of Vision)
Who's the worst mom ever now!? Oh yeah...I am. And you are.
But then consider this:
1 John 1:4-7
And these things we write, so
that our joy may be made complete.
And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that
God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not practice the truth;
but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us
from all sin.
It's all about balance.
