The Peril of the Pendulum

When Isaac Newton informed everyone that 'each action had an equal and opposite reaction', he was referring to the laws of motion. Little did he know that his law would also describe some of us.

Through college, my reputation was not based on my good behavior or spiritual depth…for good reason-my behavior wasn't good and I was about as spiritual as a trash dump. I did develop a very practical, working definition of sin, however…sin is when you get caught doing something. I don't think I was a horrible person. In my mind, I was an average guy who was determined to really enjoy life using the then popular beer commercial slogan as a life's purpose statement, 'You only go around once in life-go for it with Gusto!'

After college and just before getting married, I made a commitment to God that surprised just about everyone who knew me-especially my new wife. The peril of the pendulum had begun. I was about to swing the other way with an equal and opposite Gusto. I began to 'preach' to fraternity brothers with whom I once partied hardy. Suddenly, I had all the right answers for my heathen friends! You can imagine how excited they were to hear from me! Needless to say, I soon had to develop a new set of friends to replace the ones I was losing. I convinced myself that since I was changed in my religious metamorphosis from a worm to a butterfly it only made sense to trade in all my former worm friends for new butterfly friends. Whereas my intentions were good, my actions toward my friends stunk!

Fortunately for me, I have received comfort in discovering this happened to another guy-someone in the Bible. This guy had a reputation for being a proven liar, an impulsive hot-head and someone who held grudges. He associated with others who had a similar reputation…his partners in business had been nick-named the 'Sons of Thunder' by someone who knew them well-Jesus Christ. The man was Simon Peter. In spite of his short-comings, Peter had potential. When he turned the corner spiritually, he did so with the same Gusto he had attacked life as a heathen. Peter's life was struck by the peril of the pendulum.

Peter did an about-face that must have surprised many who knew him. Once a crusty fisherman with a long list of undesirable qualities, Peter was now a public speaker for God. Following his first recorded public address, over 3000 people decided to follow this new group that would soon be named 'Christians'. But not everything was perfect in Peter's life. It seems that the decision to alienate ones' self from his heathen friends was not original with me. Peter had separated himself so successfully from heathens that God had to take special action to reveal to Peter that his pendulum had swung too far. (See Acts 10:9-11:18) Peter listened to God, swallowed his Jewish spiritual prejudice and 'lowered' himself to associate with an 'undesirable family' of Gentiles to tell them what he knew about salvation through Jesus Christ. Everyone in the family was converted to faith in Jesus Christ. The pendulum appeared to have been stopped in Peter's life. Unfortunately, we read in Galatians 2 that several years later a friend of Peter's had to remind him his pendulum was swinging again with the damaging force of a wrecking ball:

When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. (Galatians 2:11-13 NIV)

Peter's friend-the apostle Paul-was upset because Peter had allowed the pressure from his religious peers to cause him to separate himself from his 'worm friends'. This was bad enough, but Paul said Peter's hypocritical behavior was also leading other people like Barnabas to believe this was the right way to act toward their 'heathen friends'. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth:

When I am with the Gentiles who do not have the Jewish law, I fit in with them as much as I can. In this way, I gain their confidence and bring them to Christ. But I do not discard the law of God; I obey the law of Christ. When I am with those who are oppressed, I share their oppression so that I might bring them to Christ. Yes, I try to find common ground with everyone so that I might bring them to Christ. (1 Corinthians 9:21-22 NLT)

What is the message in this for us? Hopefully, that we will not allow extreme behavior in our past to cause us to overreact in the opposite direction and alienate ourselves from the very people God wants us to bring to Him.

May your pendular strokes shorten quickly!