Dear Elim Grace,

Pascal once wrote: “I do not admire the excess of a virtue like courage unless I see at the same time an excess of the opposite virtue, as in…extreme courage and extreme kindness. Otherwise it is not rising to the heights but falling down. We show greatness, not by being at one extreme, but by touching both at once and filling all the space in between.” 

You have heard me say that as we grow bigger we must also grow smaller. In other words, as we grow in number, we must also grow in community. For us this means ensuring we are each in some kind of ongoing smaller community of believers, whether a small group or Bible study. We must fill the space between growing bigger as a congregation and growing smaller in fellowship.

Another example is in our personal daily/weekly schedule. As we go faster and fill our calendar, we must also go slower and rest. If you take more time to work, you have less time elsewhere. You must learn to fill the space between working well (not always more) and resting well (not always less). 

A last example is the space between judgment (discernment) and trust. 

There are, to be sure, fools and enemies all around us. You shouldn’t trust a fool, they don’t have a clue. You shouldn’t trust an enemy, they mean you harm. Yet, not everyone around you is a fool or your enemy.

Still, we have all of us become suspicious of everyone and everything. We can’t take our car to the mechanic without suspecting they might invent a problem. We can’t go to a doctor without suspecting their ability to diagnose and treat. We can’t call a plumber or repairman without suspecting they only did half the work they billed us for. We can’t read a news article or look at a picture without suspecting it’s fake. (The opposite extreme is swallowing and believing everything.)

Because we now are suspect of everyone, we find it difficult to trust anyone. Within the Body of Christ and the family of God, this must not be. As the Bride of Christ and a “city set on a hill,” this cannot be. The danger is that we are “falling down” rather than “rising to the heights”.

Jesus is the Lion AND the Lamb. Filling all the space between. C.S. Lewis called Jesus “the Avalanche AND the Rose”. To live in Christ is to live in the “AND”. To grow in the “BETWEEN”. 

Somehow, Jesus filled the space between not entrusting Himself to anyone (because He knew what was in their hearts) and giving Himself to the world He loved. He served the weak and the strong, the poor and the rich, the sick and the healthy. He washed His disciples feet, including His betrayer’s. He laid down His life for friend and enemy alike. 

As Christians, and as we grow a BIG people in Christ, we must seek to “rise to the heights”. We must be shaped and conformed in every trait of God’s character. Reflect and walk in every aspect of the image of Christ. Continually be filled with and bear every fruit of the Spirit. We must fill all the space between.

Pastor Jonathan