The Middle Way

Before we go any farther in this post, I want to say that yes, I know that the phrase “The Middle Way” is connected to Buddhism. The Middle Way is Buddha’s idea that the path to enlightenment lies between two extremes (austerity and over-indulgence). But that ties directly into the first part of my post on “The Middle Way.”

As Bill Bright said in his booklet “The Four Spiritual Laws” there are spiritual laws that govern the universe (and the spirit realm) just as there are physical laws. These laws are real laws: they exist, and they don’t care if you don’t believe in them. For instance, I often use the analogy that gravity doesn’t care if you believe in it or not — you’ll still fall off the cliff if you try to step over the edge. Likewise, the spiritual laws work whether someone is a Christian or not (and whether a Christian understands the spiritual laws or not).

A good example of this is karma. In Buddhist and Hindu traditions, it means basically “the effects of all your actions.” To illustrate this I’ll quote from the Wikipedia article:

If we accept that the logical ethical consequence of the law of karma is to behave responsibly, and the tenet of the law of karma is essentially “if you do good things, good things will happen to you — if you do bad things, bad things will happen to you,” then it is possible to identify analogs with other religions that do not rely on karma as a metaphysical assertion or doctrine.

Karma does not specifically concern itself with salvation as it implies a basic socio-ethical dynamic. The law of karma as a mechanism functions like a judge of one’s actions, similar to the concept of God as judge in relation to “good and bad works” in the western religions. The Apostle Paul similarly states: “man reaps what he sows.”

See my point? Even pagan religions, seeking to find the meaning of the universe, can stumble upon true spiritual laws and apply them. That doesn’t mean that these religions offer salvation. Far from it. But someone who is not saved is still bound by God’s spiritual laws. The Hindus call it karma. We call it “The Golden Rule.” It still works either way.

So when I talk about “The Middle Way” I’m not trying to be a Buddhist. I’m talking about a fundamental concept that works no matter what tradition you’re in. That concept is that generally speaking, Truth lies between two extremes. Not the extremes of Good and Evil. That’s not what I’m talking about. Real Truth is always good, for God is Truth, and God is Good. No, I’m talking about philosophical extremes. Or doctrinal.

At the moment I’m writing this the lights are out on this block of Sepulveda Blvd. in Manhattan Beach. Luckily I’m writing on a laptop, or I would have lost my post. I’m working in darkness, but my words are filled with light (from my LCD screen). This doesn’t have anything to do with my subject, but I just thought it was interesting.

Right now there’s a discussion going on between several members of Grace, on an e-mail list, about spiritual authority. You don’t need to know the details, they aren’t important. But my impetus for starting what I hope is a series on “The Middle Way” is that authority is a subject that has traditionally gone to extremes. Yet the truth of authority is in the middle: we all need authority in our lives, whether spiritual or temporal, but too much authority strangles us. Too little authority degenerates into anarchy. Too much into tyranny. The proper exercise of authority lies in the balance between requiring and expecting, between issuing orders and being willing to listen. And between serving and being served.

Paul exhorts us to obey our leaders. But if we blindly did so, we would be like sheep led to the slaughter. Our country is a good example of this. Our Founding Fathers obeyed the King and his laws until they felt they could no longer do so in good conscience. They tried to reconcile with their leader, but he would not do so. That left the Founders with no choice but to sever their allegiance to their leader and create a new government.

Similarly, Martin Luther followed his spiritual leaders until his conscience kept him from doing so. If he hadn’t, try to imagine what that last 500 years of Christian history would be like!

More next time. I need to save this into a file before my batteries run out. Unfortunately, there’s no middle way between having power and not having it!