Seekers of truth always dig deeper than the rest. We look, now, at Luke 20:25 as if viewing two layers – a worldly, or common, layer and a spiritual, or refined layer. Like everyone else, we see what is on the surface of things, although we are rarely inclined to take things at face-value. We see both where we are and where we should be.
If I said to you, “I am off to a good start,” my comment is only a common, face-value, worldly, on-the-surface-of-things statement. However, what I have not said, also makes a statement. To be off to a good start is a place and a condition that is equal to not yet having reached the finish line. Knowledge of the goal is that higher, refined layer.
When we want someone to pay special attention and get a particular point, we say 'listen up'. Up is the key direction. Whenever you see the face-value of something, as in where you are or what you are, you should strive to look beyond that. You should seek the unspoken truth that is above the world.
When Jesus spoke, he wanted people to 'listen up'. His parables were the unspoken truth behind the face of things, above the surface of the world. His message, although it was couched in worldly illustrations, always pointed away from what a person was or where they were to what they were supposed to be and where they needed to go.
A case in point is Luke 20:25. For the reader, there are two levels to be seen in the statement Jesus made. On the surface of things, Jesus was outwitting the people who were trying to trap him in his words. At face-value, the statement was a clever reply, but the unspoken truth, above the worldly surface of things, was the issue of finding and keeping balance.
Jesus said, in Luke 20:25, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.”
How does one find a balance between the things of the world and the things of the spirit? Indeed, does one even seek said balance? You may notice that in his statement, Jesus used the word 'and' rather than the word 'or'. He did not say don't pay tribute to Rome, nor did he minimalize the importance of faithfulness to God. He said to find the proper balance.
The view on a balance between the world and God, in both Christian and non-Christian thought, is an 'either-or' arrangement. It is not a matter of balance but a restriction of one reality in preference for another reality. All realities are actually one and the same, yet certain people only see what is real through the lens of personal preference.
Some personal preferences restrict the use of musical instruments in worship services. Some personal preferences restrict modern technology in daily life. Some personal preferences restrict the vocalization of the name of God. For some, prayer only works if you kneel down, or if you lay on your face, or if you fold your hands just so, or if you finger some beads. Some men can't be spiritual without a beard; some women must wear uncomfortable clothing and head coverings to be what they think they should be – or worse, to be what others think they should be.
The Christian can't seem to shake the inclination that in order to give God his due, he or she must restrict the normal realities of life. It is a restrictive state of mind that empties life of TVs and radios, and games, and computers – as if reality opposes itself -- as if God did not place or allow all these things in life.
As if it was not bad enough that the Christian can't find balance between his worldly reality and his spiritual reality, the Non-Christian comes along and bashes him with such accusations as 'you can't be a Christian if you smoke', or 'you can't be a Christian if you drink', or 'you can't be a Christian and have sex, too'. So, why can't a Catholic monk, or a nun marry and have children – how does that decrease their faith or devotion to God?
A balance between the world and God is a balance between the outer man and inner man. 'Either-or' is an impractical mindset. There is a balance to be found, and to the Christian, the Bible has this advice in regard to the 'either-or' approach to truth and spirituality, in the following NIV translation of Ecclesiastes 7:16-18.
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