You’ve no doubt heard this encouragement: everything in moderation.  This is especially attractive in the church, where the every “thing” in question is likely to be that assorted list of “sins” that you just can’t help yourself with.  That list has tough stuff on it, but also seemingly small things:

1. alcohol
2. smoking
3. dancing   (which actually just confuses most of us; seriously “dancing?”)
4. gossip
5. vanity
6. craigslist/eBay

And before you know it, you have left the realm of absolutes and entered into that gray area where people stop feeling comfortable calling something “sinful”.  For instance,

• the person obsessed with body image spends more time at the gym than anywhere else
• in looking for a healthy alternative, the person grabs onto every fad diet, yoyoing in weight every time
• in caring for her children’s spiritual health, the mother stops engaging in church herself
• in trying to care for his family, the husband works hours in which he isn’t able to see any of them.

Even though the second group rarely makes people’s lists of “sins”, they are much more sin-full than the previous list.  That’s because of obsession–something that is certainly not a moderating force.

But here is where I throw all of that out the window.

Jesus never preached moderation.  Seriously.  He never preached chastity and abstinence and keeping it to one glass.  Nothing.  That’s the puritans.

Jesus preached about being obsessed with God and justice and mercy.  He spoke about our zealous relationship, not primarily to the rules, but to one another.  He encourages bold thinking and demands that we get rid of our adult arrogance and adorn the wonder of children.

Moderation is the enemy of faith.

The problem isn’t moderation vs. excess, but what you are zealous for.  Jesus turned water into wine in that famous wedding scene, to both spare the dignity of the host and to keep people having a good time!  The problem is that most of our obsessions aren’t about loving God or loving our neighbor.  We’re more obsessed with all the junk we can accumulate or how we compare with our neighbors.  That’s sin.  We obsess about keeping the wrong people from getting married or preventing family planning.  That’s sin.  We obsess over making people pay for their mistakes, even when we are the only ones who think a mistake was even made, including God.  That’s sin.

If we need to moderate anything, moderate judgment, hypocrisy, insensitivity, abuse, and vindictiveness.  But love, passion for God, support of friends and strangers, unleash that!  Get rid of the gauge you use to measure that.  Just love as God loves–ridiculously and generously–without moderation.

[Note: Written in response to a Daily Post about moderation.]