Some weeks ago I was debating with a guy who claimed that being extreme is something that should be avoided in the Christian walk. He proposed that there needs to be balance in life and if you get too extreme, you will fall back into sin and being perfect like Christ is impossible because of our flesh.   
 
If any of you know me, I'm black and white--physically and mentally (God is so funny). Most of the time, there is only one of two ways to go about something; you either do something or you don't; you lie or you tell the truth; you win or you lose. I'm learning things are not that simple all the time but that is the mindset I gravitate towards characteristically.
   
So I asked him, "By balance, do you mean an equal amount of sin and godliness?" He said no. He replied saying that since one cannot be perfect like Christ, it is pointless to be so extreme because in the "extremeness" you will not measure up and end up falling flat on your face all over again.  
 
I told him "If you mean being flawless, then no, I can't be flawless. If you mean being mature and complete, then we can talk." Well, his context ended up being flawlessness and he would not veer from that thought process and after some roundabouts and some explanation of my thoughts, the debate ended.
 
During the debate, I did tell him that Jesus was an extreme guy. In reference to sin (adultery in this case), he said if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away (Matt 5:29). He did not say close your eye. He said gouge it out and then throw it away. In Colossians 3:5 Paul says to put to death whatever belongs to your earthly nature and he goes on to list what those are in the same verse. Putting something to death means making it lifeless.  That's extreme too. Romans 8:13 says if you, by the Spirit, put to death the misdeeds of your body, you will live. Once again, extreme. In Revelations 3:16, Jesus was about to spit the church of Laodicea cause they were neither hot or cold--not on one extreme or the other.  
 
I think it would be safe to say, when it comes to sin, it's good to be extreme. Crucifying the flesh is already hard enough sometimes and when we allow the flesh to get an inch on us, it becomes that much harder. For a time of my life, I've had to "put to death" the TV; I've had to "put to death" the video games; the internet. A lot of music I've had to "put to death" permanently--certain movies too. Don't want to leave distractions out of this list also. I've had a lot of problems with sin. Don't judge me. :) 
 
When it comes to sin, it doesn't seem that there can be a "balance." You can't have a little bit of sin and a lot of God. No. Jesus said be mature and complete. It is mature to deny sin as Jesus would. When was the last time you resisted the devil until blood dripped from your pores? Don't tell me that's not extreme.