FOUND POST FROM YESTERDAY

Last weekend I watched an iconic movie from my childhood, The Karate Kid. In the film Mr. Miyagi is training his protege how to do Karate. Daniel is interested in learning to punch. Mr. Miyagi says that he must, "first learn balance, then learn punch".

Mr. Miyagi knew something that is the key to success in our Christian faith, and I'd like to share it. But first I want to tell you a parable:

Man walk on right side of road, safe.
Man walk on left side of road, safe.
Man walk in middle, squish, just like grape.

Man walk with Christ, Yes, safe.
Man walk with Christ, No, eternally damned, but no worries here on earth.
Man walk with Christ "think so", squish, just like grape.

There is a balance to the Christian life of interior and exterior living. That is there are certain things/commitments that happen on the outside that we all have to do to live (i.e. marriage, parenting, vocation, family, etc.). These are the public things that are clearly visible to everyone in the world. It's like Daniel's punch. It's what you can see. It's what we look at and esteem power by.

However, without proper balance Daniel's punch would never be as effective. The power doesn't come from the punch (visible), it comes from the balance (internal/external).

I guess the reason that I've been thinking about this is that I see people who get knocked off balance in life, and the way they respond is by swinging more and more. The punch of their life gets weaker and weaker, because they don't balance their external efforts with the internal balance of life and peace in Christ. I think Christ's call to rest is a call to balance. The Spiritual Disciplines are a way of disciplining balance in our lives.

Otherwise, squish, just like grape.

--Ben