The ethics of a balanced life

Should we be extreme or should we be balanced?

You know what I mean by ‘balanced’: be generous, but not too generous; take Christ seriously, but don’t be a religious fanatic; tell the truth, but not to a fault, etc. This approach is as old, at least, as the ancient Greeks. Lots of voices in our lives call out for this balance: parents, colleagues, work, talkback radio, novels and academia. But are these the voices of wisdom?

I’ve been reading Proverbs recently, and I just don’t find the concept of ‘balance’ there. What I see instead are absolute virtues: be wise and not a fool; be diligent and not a lazy sluggard. This is set up boldly in the introductory orientation to Proverbs (chapters 1-9).

This is also completely consistent with the New Testament. There is no appeal to find a balance between the fruit of the Spirit and the acts of the sinful nature; Christians are to be entirely loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled (Gal 5:22-23). The greatest commandment is not a command to be balanced, but to be extreme: “[L]ove the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

But what about the verses that advocate a balance in life? For instance, there is that beautiful prayer that asks God for neither riches, nor poverty, but simply our daily bread (Prov 30:8-9). However, on closer inspection, this balance of life is based on absolute issues of character. We want to honour God with every part of our bodies—by never stealing, if we have too little money, nor being too arrogant, if we have too much money.

How, then, do we sort out the voices in our head that call for balance? I think we need to think clearly. Some of these voices we need to hear, and others we must reject. There is a place for balance—not in our character, but in our actions that spring from that character.

Here’s how I think it works:

1. In our character (being), we should seek virtues, not balance.
2. In our actions (doing), our character may demand that we act in a balanced way.

We should be holy, loving, wise, compassionate people. But being those sorts of people may demand a balance in the way we live and act in different ways at different times. This, however, must not be used as a cop-out for unvirtuous character.

A worked example: generosity. The balanced character approach: don’t be over-generous, nor over-stingy (balanced character). Give a reasonable amount—not too little, but not too much (balanced action). The biblical approach: be completely generous (virtuous character). Give a wise amount that will enable you to be generous in the present as well as in the future (balanced action).

Another worked example: religious fanaticism (to use a word that others apply to us). The balanced character approach: don’t be overly zealous as a Christian. Take it seriously, but not too seriously. There is a lot more to life. The biblical approach: be completely devoted to the Lord God with everything you have (virtuous character). But this doesn’t mean that you spend every spare minute of every day doing a church activity. After all, there are many ways to honour God in our lives (balanced action).

Should we be extreme or should we be balanced? My short answer is that we should be extreme in our virtuous character, but sometimes that may force us to be balanced in our actions.

This is probably old hat to most of you, but this thought has been both refreshing and clarifying for me. I am open to criticism if you want to challenge this view, but I’d also like to hear some other worked examples of how this may work out—in parenting, in your workplace, in your relaxation and entertainment, in your evangelistic zeal, and so on.