tension

Yesterday our community began a discussion of Epic, by John Eldredge. We’re reading it together and began with just the Prologue and Act One. Well, I was simply thrilled with the whole day! Not only did we all actually read this section of the book, but everyone seemed to enjoy and get a lot out of it. Our conversation regarding these few pages was fantastic. The room was full of great insights and powerful questions. But I think the entire discussion, for us at least, could be boiled down to one word: tension.

Dictionary.com defines tension as “the state of being stretched or strained.” This word came up pretty quickly as we began talking. One person in particular said they felt like God was always placing them in positions of tension. God would allow a certain level of peace and contentment, but then force them into a more difficult situation where even more faith was needed or even more dependence required. To be honest, at first we weren’t sure if this tension was a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, none of us enjoy being stretched or strained! No one likes being forced into tough circumstances!

As the dialogue continued, though, and as different people offered different perspectives, it became clear that we all feel tension in one way or another. And it seems to be a pretty constant thing. There may be days or even weeks without feeling it, but tension is always close by, around the corner, waiting for us. So the question arose: Is it possible that tension is a good thing? Does God want us to live in a nearly constant posture of stretching and straining?

Act One of Epic is called “Eternal Love.” It’s about how God is a relational being—Three in One. Since before time began, He has existed in eternal fellowship with Himself. (I know that doesn’t make any logical sense, but this is the Trinity we’re talking about for crying out loud!) God, who is intimately relational, created humanity in His own image. Therefore, we are intimately relational. We can’t help it, shouldn’t apologize for it and can’t possibly change it. We are meant to exist in community with God and with others. Anything less than that…and we feel it. We sense it. We know something is not right. We are hardwired to God’s eternal love.

So there’s the sticking point. Each of us has this evil, sinful nature that wants to do our own thing and live our own lives independently of God and everyone else. But deep down, intuitively, we know we can’t. The other part of us wants—no…needs, requires—meaningful, authentic relationships with others. To truly be healthy, there is no other alternative. So we strain. We stretch. We fight. We struggle. Do you feel the tension? Can you identify?

We didn’t answer many questions yesterday. We didn’t try to alleviate the tension. We just let it be. We let it exist. We left it very open ended. See, the idea isn’t necessarily to “fix” all the problems and solve the world’s issues. That’s God’s job. Our job is to recognize where He is working and join in His redemptive plan. The story is already being told. And we are each characters in it. What comes next?