I most commonly hear truth and love treated as binary, opposites, or ends of a spectrum. Pastors speak of our tendency to choose one or the other and exhort us to find balance, to hold them in tension. But I'm not satisfied with this. I'm on a quest for clarity.
Tension
Balance and the Center of Biblical Tension
My seminary president, Robertson McQuilkin, drilled into me a profound maxim: โIt seems easier to go to a consistent extreme than to stay at the center of biblical tension.โ More recently, this same concept was reiterated by my Bible study teacher, JoAnn Hummel: โYou and others will benefit as you โhold the ropeโ of tension in the Scriptures.โ The prophet Isaiah offers us many opportunities to put this guiding principle into practice since his writing contains much tension.