Day 39. Balancing Your Life

Day 39. Balancing Your Life

We’re getting to the end. Most of us know what our purposes are. Warren lays out the source of these purposes, the Great Commandments and the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. But there is a great divide between knowing and doing. Izzo (1) says that 70 percent of those who have life threatening medical conditions such as heart or lung disease or diabetes, all of which can be ameliorated by changing habits or diets choose not to.

The same problem occurs with spiritual conditions. We know, but we choose differently. Effective dieters use “weight watchers” to establish accountability to change physical habits; John Wesley developed similar groups, called classes, for spiritual accountability to watch over one another in love.

Wesley was so convinced of the need for these groups that he vowed never to preach without following up. “Without joining together those that are awakened and training them up in the ways of God was only begetting children for the murderer.” He continued, “How much preaching there has been of twenty years… but no regular [classes], no discipline, no order or connection. And the consequence is that nine in ten of the once-awakened are now faster asleep than ever.”

In Wesley’s classes, the members were accountable to one another “First to do no harm.” This is a separate but important discussion. I’ve always thought it important that Wesley chose it as first. Harm is many times irreparable. Harm is always sin. Harm damages or destroys relationships. Harm can be evil.

Wesley’s second general rule is to “Do good; by being in every kind merciful after their power; as they have opportunity, doing good of every possible sort, and as far as possible to all…” Wesley’s third general rules is to “attend upon the ordinances of God.”

Wesley accountability groups covenant to comply with the latter two rules by acts of mercy, ie compassion and justice; and acts of piety, ie worship and devotion. We could easily map Wesley’s acts into Warren’s purposes. That would be where balance comes in.

Groups or spiritual partners could agree on specifics of the purposes, eg to always attend worship unless one is sick, to serve in a way that strengthens the community of faith, to pray and read Scripture daily, to serve at a food kitchen monthly, to invite someone to church at least monthly. Then the partners or groups would agree to pray for one another, to tell one another regularly how they are doing, and to advise one another how to do better when they fail.

Accountability is a key in moving from knowing to doing.

Forming accountability partnerships or groups is another of the choices we make… or not.

Blessings,

Rick

(1) Izzo, John, The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die. (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Pulishers, Inc., 2008) page 116.