Congruence is the most important element in the 7C's of a person's life. It is about having a fully integrated and balanced life.

Funk and Wagnalls standard desk dictionary defines congruous as: "Agreeing in nature or qualities; harmonious; appropriate; fit." As a geometric term, it is defined as: "Exact correspondence when superimposed".i The concept is like that of a template where holes or alignment lines are designed to create a perfect fit between two objects. The template is the guide that shows how the two objects are to line up. The two things connect as intended or designed.

For the Christian, Congruence is the fit between your faith and your life, a balance of your roles and relationships. It is a connectedness between your faith and all that you are and all that you do. The template is your faith. What must line up is your every day life--your roles, relationships, career, your everything!

Rather than a fragmented life, where the pieces don't fit together, wouldn't it be better to have an integrated life where all of it has meaning, and value, and works together? Wouldn't it be freeing, even empowering to know that the place where you spend the majority of your time--your work--was a significant part of fulfilling God's purpose for your life?

Congruence is the intersection point between our faith and life. When we experience congruence we see clearly how our faith applies to our everyday life. The lack of congruence on the other hand is a dis-abler. Without congruence we will be unable to accomplish the other elements of our lives as fully and abundantly as we would like or need.

True clarity can't happen without congruence. By its mere definition, to be incongruent means that we could have thoughts, ideas, goals, and directions that are in conflict with one another. Incongruency creates a fog in our lives.

Incongruence begins with our view of the world and our place in it as Christians. Most Christians in an effort to be 'in' the world but not 'of' the world have all but abandoned the world. Like schizophrenics, we split our life in this world between those things that are sacred and those things that are secular, while wanting to be more spiritual. We are confused about our place in this world. Let me ask you: How can we have clarity, be confident, be affirmed in who we are and what we do if we spend our lives frustrated and confused about what God wants of us?

Without congruence in our lives, we lack the confirmation we need to feel that we count and make a difference in the world. We want to be effective in our careers, but also in our families. In our families, but also in our church. In our church, but also in our communities. We want to move smoothly between the different spheres of our lives. We want our faith and life to match up. We gain confirmation when the feedback we get from these various spheres is consistent, when we sense the continuity rather than feeling disjointed or fragmented. This is how we measure our overall worth.



Incongruence in our lives can cause enough confusion to destroy any sense of confidence we may have. It can paralyze us and cause us to be unproductive. It can cause us to be tenuous, reserved, and overly cautious.

I'm not talking about entrepreneurial risk here, I'm talking about a sense of empowerment to use your combined skill set, character, and values in whatever environment you find yourself. The confidence that comes from congruence reveals that within the activity of our lives there exists an overriding meaning. The substance of that meaning overflows into all that we are and all that we do.

The question of congruence was also a concern for the psalmist who said: "...give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name" (Ps. 86:11,NIV). In both the Old and New Testaments, the heart was always considered to be representative of the whole person. The heart was the unifying center of the person. With this understanding, this verse could be paraphrased: "Make my life congruent so that in everything I do, and in all that I am, I might do for You".

This verse underlines the awareness on the part of the psalmist that God did not intend for us to live fragmented lives. And the heart is the pivot point on which our lives turn. If we are to "Love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength" (Matt. 22:37,Deut.6:5), then we must see our life as God sees it: one unending flow, one complete story, and one journey heading to one destination.

The "great commandment" stated above does not contain a sequential order, or priority. It does not imply heart first, then soul, then mind, then strength (or physical life). Rather, these are different vantage points of the same person.
i Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary, (Harper & Row, 1964,1966,1969,1977,1980,1984), pg. 134