Ecclesiastes 7:18 It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. The man who fears God will avoid all extremes.

“Extremism is so easy. You’ve got your position, and that’s it. It doesn’t take much thought. And when you go far enough to the right you meet the same idiots coming around from the left.” Clint Eastwood.

Sorry, I raced right to the conclusion didn’t I? That great philosopher Clint Eastwood seems to have summed up the the reason we’d rather have firm, rigid unbending cause and effect conclusions than do the heavy lifting of real discernment; why we’d rather start interactions with “I know, I know, I know,” rather than choose the patience of an actual give and take conversation with another human being. Some of you who are a bit more ancient remember the nervous deputy sheriff Barney Fife, on “Andy of Mayberry,” who carried only one bullet for his six shooter. Well that was a comedy, carrying one bullet in real life is not.

Now, obviously Eastwood is concerned here with the world of politics but in my opinion what he says is wisdom for all aspects of our lives. The evangelical church where I am deeply rooted has often started important conversations with conclusions rather than an invitation to discovery. I remember when the church taught that an unhappy man, meant the wife was not fulfilling her obligations. There was this book called “Total Woman” by Marabel Morgan that recommended such things as meeting your husband at the door when he came home from work, in Saran Wrap. Stop laughing, playfulness in a marriage is a good thing, but the idea that the woman carries the entire burden of her man’s contentment in life is oppressive and crushing.

I don’t have to tell you we have swung the other way. Unfortunately, the church has not been very good at being original; so, seemingly to offer a less aggressive version of extreme feminism, we created a new doctrine which, says, (And I actually heard a preacher say this) “If the wife isn’t smiling it’s the man’s fault.” Balanced humility which is the sensible response to extremism says, I should consider that if my wife is miserable it may indeed be on me but there’s at least a dozen reasons why another human could be in a bad state.

Then we have “extreme grace.” With extreme grace, we’re not allowed to talk about your behavior because that would be to bring you under the law of Moses. Extreme grace was no doubt an over reaction to the doctrine of extreme works, which placed the entire burden of one’s salvation on straightening up and flying right. Then we look beyond the walls of the church with things like extreme beliefs about immigration. We have the extreme left that want the completely unsustainable policy of open borders and we have on the far right the entirely impractical and cruel idea of mass deportation. We not only don’t avoid extremes but we cling to them like a drowning person to a flotation device.

Why we love extremism is no mystery; it gives us one dragon to slay versus many. Extremism puts all the eggs in one basket then hyper-focuses on the basket. If a problem child is always a sign of a problem parent we don’t need to talk about personal responsibility with both the parent and the child. Real life is messy, and extremism seems to be the way to clean it up, but it’s an awful myth.

One of the most deadly and dangerous reasons we love extremism is because we can unite with a group of people who agree with us and they become our tribe. Have you noticed that society has given us over the past few years, the “million MAN march,” and now the “WOMEN’S March.” Why don’t we have a “COUPLES MARCH” on Washington or even better a “FAMILY MARCH.” We talk diversity but we live divisively. No wonder we’re so lonely, no wonder the pendulum of public opinion keeps swinging back and forth on everything imaginable.

Ecc 7:18 makes it clear that exalting, or fearing God, is the answer to extremism. Theologians are constantly trying to explain “fearing God,” in a way that doesn’t offend us, but all this effort to whittle God down to size is really not serving us well. If this God doesn’t intimidate me then he’s too small. When God is the most revered object of our lives we go to him constantly for understanding and grappling with our dilemmas instead of just glomming onto some one size fits all idea that, of course, we control.

Let me give you an alternative to the mental autopilot that is extremism. (Drum roll please) Start waiting on God for answers to your problems that you would have never thought of. What waiting on God looks like is a discussion for another day, but don’t forget, the words “waiting” and “God” more than suggest we get comfortable with times of uncertainty and times of dialogue. If we will slow down, we will STOP determining people’s fate without due process and just as important, we will be made mature by the painful progress of struggle. Not only will we have better and more accurate answers, we will be better people and God will be worshipped as the brilliant benevolent force that he is. In the words of scripture, “he will forgive our sins and he will heal our land.” 2 Chron. 7:14