The Via Media

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Scripture

Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?
(Ecclesiastes 7:16 NASB)
It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them.
(Ecclesiastes 7:18 NASB)

 

Observation

If there is something that great Christian leaders throughout history have encouraged, it is the "via media." This does not mean the use of social media, or the internet, or television but instead, it means the middle road, or the middle path. Throughout history we have seen the damaging results of those who go to the extreme. John Wesley was one of those who encouraged via media. Gregory of Nyssa encouraged via media and there have been many more. Today's scripture does the same thing. Anything, even something good, which is done in excess is destructive. We are admonished not to be excessively righteous. Why? Because those who focus too much on personal righteousness tend to miss the point of God's message. Their become self-focused and not God-focused. This leads to ruin.

Another example comes in the form of wisdom. How much wisdom or knowledge is enough? Just this week I've been reading a book called "Outliers." In this book you may read about a study which has been done on people with amazingly high IQs and their "success" in life. Interestingly, there seems to be a threshold level over which "success" becomes completely dependent on other factors, and not on intelligence. In other words once you're smart, being really smart doesn't make much of a difference.

 

Application

While growing up my parents always emphasized that we were to do a good job in school, but we were never pressured to get straight A's. Actually, getting at least one B a semester was consider healthy in our household. Personally, I watched those straight A students who felt that they had failed at life when they got their first B. I appreciated my parents' attitude toward our education because they wanted all of their children to do well, but they also wanted their children to be well rounded and intuitively they understood that this meant that there was more to education than what simply happened in the classroom.

At the end of the day there must be a balance in our lives. The balance must come in the form of our relationship to Jesus Christ. This personal relationship must be the central feature of our lives and we will discover that Jesus found a via media. The overly righteous criticized him for hanging out with the "wrong crowd." The overly educated couldn't figure out why he knew so much. At the same time, Jesus knew how to connect with the ordinary people of his day. In many ways he and his followers did not go to extremes, instead they tried to mingle in with the masses of needy people of their day. This becomes obvious when the leaders can't even recognize Jesus. He had found the way to the via media. What about us?

 

Prayer

Lord, may this day be led and guided by you in all things. Amen.

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