Is There Room For the Spiritual Moderate?

But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:14)

Being a moderate is the worst sin in politics and contemporary society. To be passionately (or angrily) in the camp of the radical liberal or radical conservative is seen as committed and unwilling to compromise integrity. Our modern world views the moderate as the lowest form of ideology. The radical's favorite scripture is from Revelation 3:16, "So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew you from my mouth." Yet, I still believe God calls us to a political and spiritual moderation.

In this devotion, I would like to focus on the wisdom of spiritual moderation. Some faithful people focus almost entirely on the inner spiritual dimension. I respect their commitment to the interior life of prayer, meditation, and listening for the still, small voice of the living God. Yet, these faithful people often focus so much on their inner spirituality that their vision does not extend beyond themselves and their continual search for the Holy Spirit.

Another group of the faithful emphasizes compassion. Their commitment to honoring God is in the work of justice, ethics, and compassion for God's children and all creation. These committed people of faith seek to honor God by bringing a prophetic commitment to a just world to all creation. Often, this group of the faithful considers too much inner reflection a selfish enterprise that limits one's ability to take the necessary time to address the world's ills.

Today, consider the joy of living in the moderate, in-between inner reflection and outer prophetic transformation. The radical extremes argue that there are only so many hours in a day and so many days in a lifetime. There isn't time to master faith's inner and outer life. I disagree. Worshiping together requires us to rely on each other. Individually, we cannot make a lasting difference when half of our spiritual time focuses on the inner and the other half on the outer faith. Instead, if the entire household of the church worked together, each person would mature in their inner spiritual development and the outer commitment to prophetic care, all people would be more faithfully mature, and great strides would occur in all areas of the faith. Do not apologize for being a spiritual moderate! Rejoice in striving to be faithfully well-rounded.