Our relationships are like teeter totters.

            Up and down. Up and down. Give and receive. Give and receive. Give and take. Give and take..

You can’t only be a taker in a relationship. You know that and I know that. Sooner or later that relationship will break down. You also can’t just give either. Relationships are a two way street. Sooner or later you’ll need what the other person is responsible to give.

You as a person are probably leaning toward one or the other. One is probably easier for you than the other. Are you a giver or are you a taker?

I’m convinced that the greatest enemy of the church today is not the devil. Or sin. Now they’re obviously problems, but are they the greatest problem? I don’t think so.

Givers and takers. Rule makers and rule breakers. Which one are you? C.S. Lewis said that “He (the devil) always sends errors into the world in pairs–pairs of opposites…He relies on your extra dislike of one to draw you gradually into the opposite one. But do not let us be fooled. We have to keep our eyes on the goal and go straight through between both errors.”

You ready? The greatest enemy?

Man made religion #1: Rule Makers.

Man made religion #2: Rule Breakers.

The rule makers are the givers. Sooner or later they feel like God owes them something. After all, they’re doing all the work. Paying all the bills. They’ve beat some addictions. They’ve come a long way from where they were. They also tend to forget about compassion, about people. It’s always dangerous to forget the second half of what Jesus boiled down the old law to: “love your neighbor”. Gen X parents inside the church seemed to lean towards rule making.

The rule breakers are takers. Salvation was free, so the rest of it must be too! Let’s be free of the rules of the rule makers! Let’s be free of rules altogether! Let’s be free of the Rule Maker! Whoah!!! Hold it, salvation was free to YOU, but it sure wasn’t free to Jesus. In fact, there may be nothing else in the Gospel of Christ that comes without effort or cost to you. Undeserved…yes. Free…no. (Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me). The first half of what Jesus summed up: Love God. You can’t love God and cast Him off whenever you want.

Give and take. Give and take. Up and down. Up and down.

We balance all our relationships in a playground. Teeter totters. Lots of them. The marriage teeter totter. The employee teeter totter. Friends, children, bosses, pastors. All a balancing act. From one to the other. Quick! Don’t drop a relationship!

Give and take! Give and take! Easy to hurt people. Easy to feel ripped off.

I felt like God said to me “what playground are you on anyways?” I realized that it shouldn’t be that complicated.

One teeter totter. Me and the God who loves me.

I need something, He gives. He needs something, I give. My wife needs something, I give. To God. Not to her. That’s the beauty of it. He gave first and it hurt Him. I could never deserve it. Is there anything He could ask in return that I shouldn’t give?

One teeter totter. Simple. I like that.