Finding Balance

David and Goliath

What is the balance between faith and wisdom? Between relying on God and relying on self?

I often hear people cite the David and Goliath story as an example of the power of faith: here is this young boy, who against all odds, takes down the mighty warrior. 

The story certainly is an example of faith, but the kid also knew how to throw a rock.

Or take this for example. Let's say you planned a road trip and meticulously prepared for everything and despite all  your preparations, an hour into the trip, your tire blows out. 

Would you sit in the car asking God to miraculously fix the tire? Probably not. You would get out and do it yourself. You might pray for safety while making the repair or you might thank God no one was hurt as you careened off the road. But you are responsible to take action for the things within your control.

But what about cancer or the death of a child? Circumstances out of your control and ones that don't make sense. What is the balance there? 

How is your balance?

The idea might be, that we apply the balance we use in the little moments to the moments that don't make sense. 

We evaluate our circumstances and take action for the things within our control and surrender to God the things out of our control.

We must leave room for God to act in our lives, to come through for us. But we must also come through on our end.

Where in your life do you need to surrender control to God?  And on the other side, where in your life do you need to take accountability and take action yourself?

Worth Dying For

The book of Acts tells the story of the early church as the message of Jesus travels from "Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth." 

In chapter 5, Peter and the rest of Jesus' closest followers, are stirring up trouble. They are living out Jesus message, bringing the good news of God to people by preaching and healing hundreds in Jerusalem. 

Things were going well, but word gets around to the same crew that had Jesus killed a couple months earlier and sure enough Peter and his buddies get thrown in jail. 

Herod's Temple, where our story takes place.

But they didn't stay locked up for long. During their first night, God opens the prison doors and instructs them to get back to the business of telling people how Jesus was the climax to Israel's history. How he had carried out his promise to bless the whole world through Israel (Gen 12). 

The next morning the religious leaders call for Peter and the crew to be brought to trial but they weren't in their cells. At that same moment, someone glances out into the Temple square and says, "Look! There are those guys you put into prison!" 

Infuriated, the Temple leaders round up the crew and put plans in motion to have them killed. But a wise leader named Gamaliel, who was respected by all, stands up, has the accused put outside and addresses his fellow leaders: 

Gamaliel addressing the council

"Fellas, consider carefully what you are going to do with these guys. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about 400 followed him; but he was killed and the whole movement died.

After him Judas the Galilean rose up at the time of the census and got people to follow him; he also perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

So this time, don't over react. Let the chips fall where they may. If what is going on is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, nothing you do will stop them."

Gamaliel's wisdom saves the lives of Peter and crew, and although the council told them to stop talking about Jesus, they didn't heed the command for a minute. 

Jewish historian, Josephus

But a careful read will reveal problems with Gamaliel's speech. According to Josephus (Ant 20.97-98), Theudas raised his revolt in AD 44-46, a number of years after Gamaliel's speech. Furthermore, Judas the Galilean, was active about 40 years before Theudas. 

But such discrepancies are normal in the Bible and should not cause us any alarm. As with the other discrepancies, those here do not affect the overall message of the text. 

That is of course unless we come to the text wanting something it does not offer. Acts does not objectively report its events - it is history infused with meaning. To view the Bible as a mere history text is to have an incomplete view of Scripture.

Acts is about the message of God's redemptive plan for all of humanity, being spread by a group of people who felt they were a part of something worth dying for. 

Do you feel a part of something greater than yourself? Are you connected to a movement whose message is worth dying for?

A Story

A man was walking one day when he came upon a vineyard. He enjoyed wine and so he stopped for a moment to appreciate the field.

What he saw surprised him: the field was overgrown, thorns and nettles covered the vines and the ground; even the stone wall that surrounded the property, had broken down. 

What had happened? He thought for awhile, considering what was before his eyes and then it came to him:

  
                           A little sleep, a little slumber,
                              a little folding of the hands to rest,
                           and poverty will come upon you like
                                  a robber,
                              and want, like an armed warrior.

This story comes from the ancient book of Proverbs 24.30-34. Proverbs is a collection of wisdom sayings and is no doubt the most interactive of all the books in the Bible. The structure of the book is quite simple: chapters 1-9 attempt to convince the reader to follow the advice of chapters 10-31. 

The reader is encouraged to gain hokma (wisdom, skill) in hopes that he or she will be successful at living - enjoying life to the fullest. Hokma is gained two ways: through observation and through experience. 

Proverbs knows somethings are better to be observed: like poverty (6.11); while others are best experienced: like properly raised children (29.17).

The interactiveness comes from the fact that Proverbs asks the reader whether or not its advice is worth following. Take for instance Proverbs 15.1 

                             A soft answer turns away wrath,
                             but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs asks the reader, "Isn't that right?" To which the reader is free to respond, either out of experience or observation, "Yes, that is right."

Proverbs even contradicts itself (26.4):

                            Do not answer fools according to their folly,
                               or you will be a fool yourself.
                                                                                                                                       
And then in the next verse (26.5):

                            Answer fools according to their folly,
                                or they will be wise in their own eyes.
                                                                    

What is going on here? Proverbs illustrates that wisdom is dynamic and must be appropriately applied. These are less timeless truths and more the collective wisdom of the community reflecting on what it looks like to be the people of God. 

Above all, Proverbs begs us to find hokma, personified as a woman at the end of chapter 8:

                            Whoever finds me finds life
                                and obtains favor from Yahweh;
                             but those that miss me injure themselves;
                                all who hate me love death.

As mentioned above, there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, perfect for a daily stroll for a month or so.

Beginnings

Hokma: wisdom, shrewdness, skill. The ancient Hebrews esteemed this virtue much in the same way as the Greeks. Philosophy comes from the Greek words philo: love and sophia: wisdom - thus "lovers of wisdom."

The underlying assumption for both cultures is that the world is a fundamentally good place with a discoverable order. The task of human beings is to investigate this world, find the order and learn to live in harmony with it.

I share this same assumption. I believe God is good and has created a fundamentally good world and wants us to enjoy it. The process of living in harmony with God's creation allows us to be fully human - to experience the substance of God most potently.

Life is a skill and we are not born with this skill. It is through experience and observation that we gain this skill. Join me as I wander through this world and let us all get better at life together!