Reading: Video Transcript - The Need For Balance

Hi. My name is Dave Zillig. It's a real privilege to address you today and be part of the Church and Ministry class. Today, we're going to talk about the need for balance in our lives.

I had a business career for 25/30 years, and I was driven to success, driven for a lot of reasons. And yet about four/five years ago, I felt this transition period in my life, where I felt the rest of my life I want to be more about significance. And I'd always struggled for balance in my life, so I developed a curriculum around helping young people find balance in their life called Equilibrium.

And even the definition of equilibrium is perfect for this ministry, because the definition is, it's a struggle for balance against opposing forces and influences. Our culture is pushing us completely out of balance. They tell us that to have a fulfilling life, we must seek power or wealth, or fame, or pleasure, success at all cost. Even if it means that the rest of your life is left in disarray.

As Christian leaders especially - and I've worked with many over the years - it's very easy to get out of balance: the demands on your time, your serving and loving others, sometimes with no limits. So as leaders, you must be strong and have a balanced base to be able to serve people over a long period of time. This will avoid burnout. A good example is-- many of you have flown before I'm sure-- the example of a stewardess when she comes over the PA system. And this always puzzled me at first. But they come over the PA system and say, "If the cabin loses air pressure and you're traveling with a small child, go ahead and put the oxygen mask on yourself first and then your child."

I've always thought that was odd. You'd want to save your child first. But in reality, if we're not strong and capable, we're not able to help others. I think the same, as Christian leaders, it's important for you to have balance in your life.

Also, there's a huge need for mentors and lots of opportunity. I think young people all over the world need positive role models. The family structure is breaking down. There are lots of absentee fathers. And this breakdown in the family is leading our youth to addictions, prison time, a lot of stress, anxiety, depression, financial problems, you name it. There's a real need for mentors. Hopefully, there was someone in your life that was a role model or a mentor. And if not, I'm sure you wish you had.

There's a lesson in nature for us that really applies and that is elephants. In Kruger National Park, which is a park in South Africa, they had a problem. They had too many elephants in Kruger and they needed to thin the herd. So what they decided to do was airlift some of the elephants out to another park that was less populated. Well, the harnesses could only carry a certain weight. So they weren't able to lift out any of the adult male bull elephants and they ended up taking the juvenile males and some of the mothers.

That worked out great for Kruger. The herd was thinned, but the park that these new elephants were taken to started experiencing all kinds of problems. They were finding some of their extent white rhinos were being mauled and killed. Some small elephants were being mauled and killed. Other animals were being ravaged. At first, they thought it was poachers, but all the tusks were still there. They set up hidden cameras and what they discovered was that the juvenile males that had been transplanted into the new park were a marauding band of violent elephants. And they were completely acting out of character.

So what did they do? They did get some adult bull elephants, introduced them into the new park, and the violence stopped. I think there's a lesson there for all of us. We all need good adult role models. And nature's no different.

Part of this is balance. And I think we'll all admit - myself included - balance is very challenging. Many of you may have heard of the Wallenda family. They're known as the high-wire act, and they've been doing this for many, many years. Well, Nick Wallenda recently walked across the Grand Canyon on a two-inch steel cable, no safety net, and no harness. Pretty bold, I would say. Maybe crazy, but Nick apparently knows what he's doing.

So Nick is the best in the world in balance and yet he's said and been quoted that he's never in perfect balance, that he's always adjusting, always striving for balance, that it's dynamic, and it's a constant challenge.

The same is true in our lives. The difference is that if Nick loses his balance, he falls and dies. If we lose our balance, it's not quite as fatal of course, but it's just as tragic because, in the long term, we don't live the kind of fulfilling the life that God's intended for us.

I believe God wants us to enjoy our life and not just endure it. He's blessed us with just one life. We're not meant to just be waiting for heaven. We're not meant to be what I call dour Christians, kind of a hangdog look on our face, just kind of trudging through. What kind of witness is that to others? Would other people want to become Christians when they see that kind of attitude, that kind of personality? I think God wants us to be joyful and resilient. That's what is the good witness. And keep in mind, there are no do-overs.

Ecclesiastes 8:15, I think, says it pretty well. Solomon says, "So I commend the enjoyment of life because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun."

I think we can also get caught up in doing more versus being more. I know I was guilty of that. I based how I felt about myself based on my performance, my results, numbers, basically what I was doing. But I came to realize that performance is temporary, and it's inconsistent. You can't always be the top performer. You can't always get the results you want. It doesn't bring peace. You're always climbing another mountain.

On the other hand, being more is more about becoming more like Christ. Being more is a permanent journey and it's an intangible. And this brings you peace.

Another definition for this is inside out living. Change incurs on the inside of our souls and our lives, but it manifests itself on the outside. It doesn't work the other way around. You can't do things on the outside and change your inside. So our identity becomes who and whose we are, not what we do.