Is Jesus really calling me to a balanced life?

I remember a distinct conversation with a good friend of mine in my mid twenties that left me walking away frustrated and questioning my entire world view. He, the leader of our community group, challenged my notion of attempting a “balanced life,” with what I believed to be a reasonable attendance of our group, a couple of times per month. Up until that point I had always viewed our community group as a place to receive an hour of teaching and possibly socialize afterwards. But his argument spoke as though I was responsible to these few friends and that they might even need me. In fact he spoke as if they were actually central to my growth in Christ and that eternal consequences were at stake.

These days when I reflect on conversations like this, I try to ask myself, “If my best friend or wife needed me at an event once a week and the direction of our friendship or marriage depended on that one hour, would I prioritize it?” Here’s the rub. Many of us still believe that our relationship with Christ is best found in one hour on Sunday morning or in reading a short devotional, a few days a week.  We confuse Jesus’ admonishment, “to keep our righteous acts secret, so as not to be seen by men,” as the overarching strategy for all of the Christian life. As a result, “personal faith” is often confused with “privatized faith.”

A personal faith means that our relationship with Jesus hits at the core of who we are, informing all of our relationships and activities. A personal faith moves us beyond an informal and optional “club like” view of the church, to an intense and deeply familial integration of ourselves into a faith community. A personal faith means that I come to the people of God on his terms, patiently willing to walk with others through their deepest pain and greatest joy. As a result, a personal faith says that I am willing to accept the privilege of being needed, despite how far it might stretch my own personal comfort or perceived capabilities.

On the other hand, a privatized faith means that my overarching approach to God and the church is based on my rights as an individual. Unfortunately this latter unbiblical perspective remains quite popular even within our own church today. But we at Parkgate long to see people changed by the power of the gospel, continually communicated within our community groups. It is only within this family like structure that we will see real personal faith encouraged and sustained. Will you join me in forsaking a false notion of a “balanced life” and become an integral and much needed part of a community group at Parkgate Community Church? Will you commit to encourage others to become a part of your spiritual family as we journey toward Christ together? As we move forward, let us find our place of greatest priority, in the ever so personal family of God.

Pastor John