the voice in the middle
November 19, 2012
“Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod.” --Jesus (Mark 8:15)
It is the little extremes that will mess us up and render us powerless.
We are all a bit legalistic on some things—we need security and a sense of control.
At other times we are surprisingly liberal—we want freedom!
The issues of our day are heavy and polarizing. The myriad of voices—to our right and to our left—beckons us to “solid ground.” We need a firm foothold. Where should we set up camp, pitch our tent, make our stand? Where is the safe place?
Prevailing over the dogma and the relativism rings out a voice of joy, purpose, dignity and stability. It is a voice of self-giving, humility, peace and love. It is a voice of hope in the midst of the tumult and perplexity. It is the voice of Jesus.
“A Christian is a person who confesses that, amidst the manifold and confusing voices heard in the world, there is one voice which supremely wins his full assent, uniting all his powers, intellectual and emotional, into a single pattern of self-giving. That voice is Jesus Christ. A Christian not only believes that he was; he believes in him with all his heart and strength and mind. Christ appears to the Christian as the one stable point of fulcrum in all the relativities of history. Once the Christian has made this primary commitment he still has perplexities, but he begins to know the joy of being used for a mighty purpose, by which his little life is dignified.”
--D. Elton Trueblood, The Company of the Committed