A Balanced Life

Is your life in balance?

I shared in a recent church newsletter article that a team from this church went to a workshop called “Mastering the Middle.” The presenter, Rev. Doug Anderson, is a United Methodist pastor, district superintendent, and church development consultant. One of the many ideas he stressed in this workshop was that churches need to be encouraging “Balanced Discipleship.”

Rev. Anderson uses the membership vows of the United Methodist Church as a basis for determining what balanced discipleship is, and he suggests that if folks are attentive to all the areas identified in the vows, they are practicing balanced discipleship.

In the United Methodist vows for joining a local church, prospective members pledge to support the church with their prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Yet what tends to happen is that members place unequal emphasis on these areas of support. Doing so leaves us un-balanced as disciples. Rev. Anderson further indicates that one of the primary culprits for this is the church itself, because of the way it functions.

One of the examples he used to illustrate this point involved church groups that met on a weekly basis. He indicated what tended to happen with folks involved in these types of groups, was that they found they were so busy with their weekly meeting they didn’t have time for anything else church related. His suggestion was, that if group members found this to be the case, they should consider meeting on a twice a month basis, which would free up the other weeks to focus in other areas. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was part of the reason it is so difficult to get volunteers for church teams?

As I continued to reflect on what “Balanced Discipleship” might look like, it also occurred to me that the balance needs to extend beyond support of the church. We should be seeking balance in our work, family, and personal life as well. While I believe it is very important to be involved in activities that support the church’s ministry, I also know that even pastors are encouraged to attend to their family and self-care needs.

So, how balanced is your life?

I suspect you may discover as I have, that it’s a challenge to find balance. I invite you to prayerfully examine the various elements of your life and seek God’s discernment for what balanced discipleship looks like for you. Are there areas that have more emphasis than others? While it’s true that “all work and no play” is not healthy, so too, is “all play and no work.” As Disciples of Jesus, may we seek balance in our family, work, personal, and church life.