“Going To Church”

It’s fairly common to hear people talk about “going to church” or about something that happened “at church” as if the church was confined to a specific place or time, rather than being the community of Jesus’ followers who have been saved by His blood.

Apparently though, this is not a recent problem. Hippolytus, a Church Father from Rome who lived in the third century, writes:

“It is not a place that is called church, not a house made of stones and earth…It is the holy assembly of those who live in righteousness.”

In a sense, it’s comforting to realize that, just as Ecclesiastes asserts, there really is nothing new under the sun.

Moderation

In Ecclesiastes 7.16-18, Solomon writes:

“Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise—why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool—why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.”

Those verses come in the context of a longer passage on wisdom, and Solomon suggests that avoiding extremes is a wise thing to do.

Generally speaking, I consider myself to be a moderate sort of guy.

Politically, there are a few issues that I am very, very conservative on, but for the most part, I’m not dead-set on a lot of things and can see both sides of a lot of issues.

Religiously, in the broad spectrum of Christianity, I would certainly be considered conservative, but in my specific religious fellowship, I’m pretty much in the middle (in the past, I would’ve thought I was pretty conservative, but over the last few years, I’ve come into contact with more and more people who have verified my middle-of-the-road-ness).

I say all that to say this: the problem with moderation is that when you’re in the middle, you have to deal with the people on both extremes.

It can be a frustrating endeavor.