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Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 10:38-39)

Jesus said to her, \u201cI am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?\u201d (John 11:25-26)

These verses present some of the key \u201cdialectics\u201d of our faith. \xa0Now I\u2019m not talking about the difference in accents across regions, like the Nova Scotian dialect that makes them sound funny when they say the word \u201ccar.\u201d \xa0No, that devotion will have to wait for Pentecost. \xa0I\u2019m not talking about \u201cdialects,\u201d I\u2019m talking about \u201cdialectics.\u201d \xa0It\u2019s a word drawn from philosophy, and a particular corner of it. \xa0In this instance, I\u2019m using \u201cdialectic\u201d to describe the holding together in tension of two opposed realities. \xa0

The New Testament is full of examples. \xa0The dialectic tension can be felt in the verses above, where Jesus says it\u2019s only the one who loses their life who will find it, or the one who\u2014by believing\u2014will live even though they die. \xa0But dialectics show up all over. \xa0God\u2019s strength made perfect in our weakness. \xa0Jesus as both fully God and fully human. \xa0God\u2019s eternity entering into our time-bound lives. \xa0

The Christian life is defined by holding together the opposites. \xa0You cannot live in the middle, in a Laodicean \u201clukewarmness,\u201d but nor can you flatten the whole world into either hot or cold. \xa0You have to hold together both hot and cold, without losing or mixing either of them into a lukewarm puddle. \xa0So, you have to hold together death and life, suffering and joy, light in darkness, being lost and found, both sinful and holy, both pure and stained, and worship a Jesus who is both one of us and totally other than us.

You cannot get rid of Jesus\u2019 humanity or his divinity, or you no longer have Jesus. \xa0It\u2019s both/and, not either/or. \xa0You have to hold the dialectic tension. \xa0You also can\u2019t pretend that you aren\u2019t at the same time both lost AND found, sinner AND saint. \xa0We are not one or the other\u2014we\u2019re both at the same time our whole lives through. \xa0

We Christians are a people called to hold and bear the tension of both/and. \xa0We are called to hold the \u201cdialectic,\u201d bringing both sides of totally opposed realities in their strength, weakening neither of them. \xa0

That said\u2014we Christians are pretty bad at being \u201ctension holders.\u201d \xa0Instead, we\u2019re more often just \u201ctense.\u201d \xa0But not in the healthy, hopeful, or holy sense. \xa0When we feel these tensions, it seems to us that something must be wrong and that somehow one side ought to win out over the other to resolve it, because who can live in such tension? \xa0So, we fight and force resolutions, or split off on our own to avoid the tension. \xa0But rarely does the tension resolve for long. \xa0Life continues to thrust us back into dialectics that complicate everything and string us up in yet another complicated tension of opposite forces.

The Bible confirms that this dialectic tension, rather than its absence, is actually the way things are supposed to be for now. \xa0Everything is defined by unpredictable dialects which serve their purpose when we surrender to them and allow them to do their work in keeping us awake, alert, and attentive to Jesus\u2019 own mysterious work of bringing life through death. \xa0Dialectics provide the tension and resistance that exercise our faith and trust, causing them to grow. \xa0Without that tension: our faith muscles atrophy and go limp in Laodicean lukewarmness. \xa0

So, keep both the hot and the cold. \xa0Take up your cross today and every day to lose your life so that you can find it each day anew in Jesus. \xa0And, trust the weakness of his humanity and the strength of his divinity to mysterious shepherd you through whatever joys and sorrows life throws your way as you walk in his way today.

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