The Fine Line

To be a Christian is not easy. There is a constant battle between who we could be and who we should be, what to desire and what to turn away from. No one of us is perfect and yet God calls us to strive for it.

At times we walk along a fine line and have to choose a side to fall on. Culture makes us choose. Work makes us choose. Maybe it is family or friends. In a world constantly flipping over or twisting around us, it could simply be the gnawing in our guts driving us to pick a side.

Have you experienced it, the pressure to choose a side?

• You are enjoying a nice lunch in the break room when a coworker asks you to join in a conversation. Politics, Supreme Court cases, human rights, pain and suffering. Add your thoughts here.
• While working away on a project on your computer a head pops over the cubicle wall and says, “Let’s ask her. She’s a Christian. What does she think?”
• Everyone is gathered down a long table at a holiday meal. The atmosphere is supposed to be joyful, festive, gracious. And then a family fire storm starts to brew. Do you put it out or toss a bit of gasoline on it? You’re the Christian, after all. It’s time for your honest opinion.
• Your family is sitting around, watching television and chatting, and your teenager blurts out something they don’t hate people for. The way they said it makes it sound like they assume you do.

This post is a setup of some things to come. These thoughts will come at random times, but they will fall under the idea of The Fine Line.

In the meantime, now that we brought up this idea, stop and think about the decisions you made recently. Opinions you have shared. Lines in the sand you found yourself walking down and finding you had to choose a side.

If the issue is not sin or morality, what makes you choose one side over the other? Do you have any regrets? Did you learn anything along the way?

We walk a fine line and teetering one way or the other can have more impact than we think. It can reveal choices we have made in our hearts about what is important and right. Those could be personal convictions or even our theology.

While big ticket items can be obvious, we need to take as much care with the simple or small looking ones. These choices and actions can have great affect on the trajectory of our lives and those within our circles of influence.