I remember when I was little—probably no more than four or five—going to the circus. I loved all the animals and clowns and tricks, but the most amazing were the high-wire acts.
Have you ever heard of the Flying Wallendas? They are seven generations of tightrope walkers. Karl Wallenda was the patriarch of the family and created some of their best-known stunts, including the human pyramid. But their performances were not without tragedy. Members of the family have been killed or paralyzed, and Karl himself fell to his death in 1978 at the age of 73. Today, his great-grandson Nik Wallenda is the featured performer, known for daring stunts like walking across a section of the Grand Canyon.
Balancing acts have always fascinated me—defying gravity in a sense. And maintaining balance is key to the life of a Christ follower.
Most of the time, when we get into trouble, it is because we allow some aspect of our lives to get out of balance. We can struggle to balance work and play, family and friends, eating and exercise. Even spiritually, without the disciplines of faith and the community of other believers speaking openly into our lives, it is easy to get out of balance with God.
Paul addresses this issue of balance throughout his letter to the Galatians. He pictures the Galatians walking on a tightrope with a sheer drop-off on either side.
On one side is legalism—relying too heavily on the law, the rules, and making more rules to help us understand all the rules. On the other side is libertinism—the idea that there are no rules, no boundaries, and complete liberty and freedom.
Paul says there is another way.
“Do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature” (Galatians 5:13).
There is a warning here: we can misuse our freedom. The word indulge carries the idea of a base of operations—the place from which an attack is made. Paul is saying, “Don’t allow your freedom to become the base from which your sinful nature operates.”
Freedom becomes dangerous when it becomes freedom to sin rather than freedom from sin.
Paul then gives us the end result: “If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Galatians 5:15). Biting literally means to wound the soul; devouring means to squander. If we continue disregarding sin and squandering relationships, we will eventually be consumed—like money spent with nothing to show for it.
Churches can be destroyed when people are filled with hatred, discord, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, and envy.
But there is a reality at work in each of us. “The flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh” (Galatians 5:17).
A Christian is a redeemed soul living in a yet-unredeemed humanness. There is a civil war taking place within us.
It is like two race horses living inside you. One races toward sin; the other races toward the Spirit. The grandson asks, “Grandpa, which horse will win?”
“Whichever horse you feed.”
True freedom comes when we are no longer driven by our natural sinful desires, but when we feel the freedom to follow the Spirit.
So what do you have this morning? What are you carrying around with you? What sinful desire or weakness have you allowed to become a base of operations?
Bring it to God. Confess it. Allow His Spirit—your new nature—to begin weakening it and giving you the power to resist.
Don’t use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. Feed the Spirit. Walk in true freedom.
Ted Harris
Associate Pastor