Opposites Attract

Have you ever considered the many things in life that require their opposites to be known at all? Our eyes are "hardwired" to see difference. If someone holds up a white sheet with a small black dot on it and asks you, "What do you see?" you'll likely answer, "A small black dot" rather than "A large white sheet." We're wired that way. In life, we find much of the same principle in many places.

Take, for instance, the concept of courage. We understand courage in contrast to fear. We see it in such contrast that we often think that courage is the lack of fear, but that isn't the case. In fact, it can't be. Courage requires fear for its existence. Courage is defined as the ability to do something that frightens you. If there is no fear, there is no courage or need for courage. Bravery only comes into play when there is fear to overcome.

Take, for instance, tolerance. Our current culture has so distorted the concept that they have erased its meaning. We think of tolerance as "acceptance." That's simply nonsense. "Acceptance" is acceptance. Tolerance is the willingness to allow the existence of something that you do not like or agree with. If tolerance was the willingness to allow something you embrace, it would be pointless. There is no virtue in allowing something you prefer. In order for tolerance to have any meaning, there must be something you do not like or agree with and then bear it anyway. A person that, say, disagrees with homosexual behavior but doesn't act to eliminate it is, in truth, being tolerant. The person who embraces such behavior cannot be tolerant of it because embracing something eliminates the need for tolerance.

Those are just a couple of examples. Over and over we find that only in comparison do we find clarity. "Poor" is only poor when compared with "rich." "Strong" is only relative to "weak." "Good" requires "bad" to have any context. On and on. But one of the biggest concepts we can consider in terms of contrasts is God and His attributes. How many of the things that define or describe God could not be known if we didn't have their opposites? We could not know justice if there was no injustice. We could not know grace if there was no wrath -- no disfavor. We could not see mercy if there was no judgment. God's power would not be known if there was no demand for God's power. God's extreme holiness is only demonstrated in the extreme unholiness in the world. Much of what we classify as bad in the world is a clear and present indicator of all that is good about God. Love is only recognized when contrasted with hate. God's extreme judgment makes plain the depth of sin. And so on.

Darkness is only dark when compared with light. Motion is betrayed most when everything else is still. We operate largely in contrasts. So it is that God's power and wrath are displayed in His willingness to punish "vessels of wrath prepared for destruction" and, then, sharply contrasted with His mercy when He doesn't do it (Rom 9:22-23). So while we complain about some of life's circumstances, trials, and perceived injustices, we should remember that they help show the way to something better. And we may not be thankful for all those hardships, but we can be thankful in them (1 Thess 5:18) because they provide a better glimpse of God.