Embrace the Tension, an Article by Wendy Andrews

Published: June 22nd, 2007

I’m on Facebook these days (and if you don’t have an addictive personality, I suggest you make yourself a profile too!).  On Facebook, one is supposed to list “favorite quotes” on one’s profile.  For some reason, I’m classically horrible at remembering quotes, movies, and books, and I can barely even tell you the storyline of Les Miserables even though I’ve seen it on Broadway twice and in movie form recently.  As I drummed my mind, the only “quote” I could initially come up with is one from Joe Steinke, a pastor and a leader within the 24-7 USA movement, who I sat under and worked with in Madison, WI, for four years.  “Embrace the tension,” were Joe’s oft-repeated, wise words, both spoken to me personally when I reached overload moments, as well as to our Bible class, regarding the very nature of this Christian faith of ours.

Usually Joe’s most memorable quotables have an entire wall of theology behind them, and this one is no exception.  I’ve not only received this particular mantra as a student, but I have come to believe in it so deeply that it’s become a message that I also must share – and, it’s one reason that I feel so at home within the international 24-7 family.  David Blackwell put it this way, out of Ecclesiastes chapter 7, when we were with some Arizona State University students and campus ministers in February:  “It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes” (7:18, NIV). Or, the NASB says, “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.”

Over the past few years, I’ve begun to notice that in the ways of God with man, tension and paradox are fully normal – and they’re even abundant realities.  God is a just God, but His mercy always triumphs over judgment (James 2:13).  God has given us freedom of will, but He is also a sovereign God, putting even kings in power (Dan 2:37, Rom 13:1).  God has already made us fully righteous in Christ Jesus, but we still sin and we’re not quite perfect yet…are we?  God calls us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, but He also says to love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Lk 10:27) and to love the nations of the earth so much that we give everything up to make disciples of them (Mt 28:19).  These three kinds of love, for instance, can seem so contradictory, and it would be really easy to grad hold of one of these and major in it to the great neglect of the others.  Or, it’s quite possible to believe in the sovereignty of God so much (like the ’50s song touts, “Qué será, sera…Whatever will be, will be!”) that we fully abdicate any personal responsibility for our lives, which is absolutely not what God has designed.  I believe that God exhorts us to live lives of balance, teetering in the radical middle, smack dab between any set of two very different extremes.  In fact, I think it’s more radical to live this way than as an extremist or a rightist or leftist on any particular matter.  Or, if you like to think of it this way, be extreme in every direction.

24-7 Prayer’s tagline since the beginning has been “Prayer, Mission, and Justice”.  We might also add “Community, Play, and Rest” to that list, because we think that the combination of all of these does a decent job at expressing the three Loves that we’re called to.  Pray as if everything depends on you praying – and even pray 24-7.  Work hard and be the best at what you do.  Have deep, laughable fun with your family and friends and celebrate life like crazy.  Rest as though you have nothing to do but what you want to do.  Give yourself fully to the people God has called you to – even if you don’t have much to gain from the deal.  

Feels a bit like a tug of war sometimes!  But, as Joe would say, “Embrace the tension.”  See it as the opportunity and privilege it is, and grasp hold of both sides, or of one thing and its seeming opposite.  Put equal weight on both sides of a see-saw, and you’re guaranteed to hover in the middle!  Ecclesiastes 7:18 says the man who fears God avoids all extremes, and that in doing so he “comes forth with both of them”.  That sounds like good and fruitful living to me.
 

Wendy Andrews is a Wisconsin native who migrated south to Kansas City in 2005. She worked with 24-7 Prayer USA for five years, helping to build the U.S. team and resource base as well as connecting university students through the Campus America initiative. Now, in addition to being part of the Kansas City Boiler Room's core leadership team, she's turned a good bit of her focus to encouraging the fires of prayer across Asia, where she spends nearly a third of her time each year. As a matter of priority, Wendy spends regular time resting, running, drinking PG Tips, cooking large vegetable-full meals for friends and laughing.

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