One nice thing about writing a daily devotional is that I have 24 hours to fix something I may not have said clearly the first time. Like my last sentence yesterday, which confused a lot of you: “You won’t find Jesus at the extremes.” Like my wife wrote me: “Jesus is everywhere.” I clearly wasn’t making my point with a number of you, so I thought it best to revisit this.
Here’s what I didn’t mean: That Jesus was not extreme or radical. On the contrary, the gospel has always been radical. In fact, my faith was founded on the radical nature of the gospel. After all, you’re talking about one of the original radical ’70s Jesus Freaks here.
Here’s what I did mean: 1. Truth is made up of paradoxes in balance – apparent conflicting concepts that nonetheless stand side by side together as both need the other. I’m referring to things such as law and grace… free will and predestination… truth and beauty… These are actually the conflicts that make our faith rich with texture and complexity. Truth is not on one side or the other. It is both and. This is the balance of which I spoke.
And 2. I don’t think Jesus wants to have anything to do with the political ideologies that divide and separate us. Jesus refuses to be cast in conservative or liberal garb. He will not fit into our categories or fall into our extremes. So taking up faith means taking on something bigger than either extreme.
John Fischer The Catch 
Ha ha. I knew when I read that yesterday that you’d probably have a firestorm of misunderstanding. I’m glad you posted this one. Whenever I consider the statement [paraphrased] “Love the Lord your God with all your mind/strength/heart and love your neighbor as yourself”, that statement just becomes deeper and deeper… especially when you apply it to daily life and all the variety of situations around you. Jesus saw things, and he fixed them. Not the politically correct way, not the way the translated laws determined, but actually from a very simplified manner, someone is sick, you heal them. You don’t ask them a million questions and decide if they deserve to be healed, fed, etc. He just did it. From a human standpoint it takes so much work to get past our humanness and do God’s will. And God’s will sure seems to buck all of our systems, political, religious, moral, oftentimes.
I picked it up the first time, but I figured someone out there would be extreme enough to point out the extreme!
I knew what you meant, John, but you did an excellent job of clarifying. And I agree: God is not the God of either/or but of both/and.
It’s interesting that in a politically charged environment like first-century Judea, Jesus had almost nothing to say about politics. Between Him, John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul, we’re told to pay our taxes, obey and pray for authorities, render righteous judgment, and be content with our wages. And not much else. Obviously God thinks there’s something more important than being political… like taking care of widows and orphans, visiting the sick and those in prison, giving to the hungry and needy, helping the least and lost. And sharing the Gospel along the way.
By the way: I’m one of those 70s Jesus freaks as well. Ain’t it great?
Waitsel
Amen to both John & Waitsel. As an evangelical in “1st in the nation Caucus” Iowa, it’s that time again. A large evangelical church sponsored a forum/pep-rally for a presidential hopefuls yesterday. (Oddly, I don’t recall them doing this in say, 2004.) In addition to trotting out money changers & professional candidates in navy suits and lapel flag pins, it was an opportunity for major evangelical pundits to fly in from all over the country and shoot a cannonball over the bow of the party ship on social issues, in effect saying if you’re not with us on the issues we find important, you’re going down. It burdens me that so many of my brothers and sisters in Christ are more concerned about making conservative disciples than Christian disciples, and that they honestly don’t see the difference. I’m left explaining to my non-christian friends that “no, really, political activism isn’t a requisite to the Christian faith.”
David — Yes, yes, and yes! Thank you for saying what you said with such clarity.
I understood. I often harp on balance. (I wonder if I get unbalanced in that.) But today’s clarification is a superb extension on yesterday. Thanks!
“The more I love Jesus, the less I care about what you believe.” Spoken like a true Jesus Freak by a man now sporting a big title in a very narrow denomination. I love this quote and others in his early books but I am always humbled and cautioned by his fall. It is a reminder that anyone can lose their edge on this crucial truth so easily.
To John F. with gratitude: “…taking on faith means taking on something bigger than either extreme.” Yes. Thank you for writing more on yesterday’s topic, helping a lot of us to grasp the key points. Faith is bigger than either extreme, indeed — and it’s bigger than any of the adjectives between the two (like me and my “centrist Christianity”). I so appreciate you and this community.