Passivity is not Christlike!

Satan our adversary has used political correctness very skillfully. He has cunningly worked through the deceived (the deceived outside the Church and the deceived inside the Church) to create a culture of passivity in the Church. That culture is nurtured in an environment that includes:

• Entitlement
• Self indulgence
• Apathy and complacency
• It often masks itself as wisdom with a view to avoiding conflict

I just saw on Facebook a short clip from Bill Johnson in Bethel TV where he spoke about the "gift of anger." It really sparked something as I recalled the email I sent to prayer leaders across Washington State just last week. It began with, I am angry... That email was my invitation to join us on a corporate prayer call which I host every Tuesday evening.  Bill made two key observations that I truly agree with and summarize.

1. Passivity is not Christlike 
2. The "gift of anger" as Bill called it, is meant to be primarily released in prayer 

Amen Bill, amen! 

Did you hear that first point? Passivity, I said quoting Bill Johnson, "PASSIVITY is NOT Christ like!" That sums up so well my conviction. We at KLI are called to mobilize the Church as the army of the Lord. An army has to be aggressive to be effective. 

Matthew 11:12 says " And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." NKJV
 
I am not talking about unbridled anger of aggressiveness, I am talking about a tempered disciplined aggressiveness. That's why Jesus admonishes us to deny ourselves and take up our cross daily. The issue is the difference between mankind's anger and God's anger. Yes, God does get angry (Psalm 7:11, Ezekiel 13:13, Joel 2:13, Hebrews 3:10) but He is slow to anger. 

In fact, did you know that anger was the emotion that led Jesus to heal one time? Mark :3:4-5 says, 

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"Then He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, (Greek word translated anger means his nostrils were flaring with violent passion)  being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other."NKJV

Anger is just an emotion. We do not err just by having emotion. We sin if the emotion prompts us to do something the Bible describes as sin. Ephesians 4:26 says, 

"Be angry, and do not sin": do not let the sun go down on your wrath, NKJV 

It is OK to be angry, just don't sin. Let the emotion prompt you to a righteous action.The issue is not so much anger as it is mis-placed anger ie. you are angry at the wrong person for no good reason. Or, the anger that you have is expressed towards an individual in a way that does not represent what is presented in God's word. It poorly reflects Him the the redemptive purpose of confrontation. 

The context of Ephesians 4 and 5 is dealing with people. I don't agree that the only place to release anger is in prayer. I believe it is the best place to go FIRST before you try to deal with people who may or may not be influenced by the demonic. 

Therefore, it is OK to be angry with lies, deception, unrighteousness, the murder of the unborn etc. The issue is, what do we do with it? What action does this emotion provoke? There are two entities involved which we need to take notice. There is the demonic and then there is the person. The demonic needs a medium to express itself through. For example, when Peter rebuked Jesus, He responded by rebuking Satan and Peter simultaneously with these words in Matthew 16:23;

But He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men." NKJV

He spoke to both at once. No doubt Peter was embarrassed and experienced a great variety of emotions. But the truth is, that is love. The rebuke was actually love expressed toward Peter. Ephesians 4:15 says;

but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ —  NKJV

Speaking the truth dealt with Satan and helped Peter grow up. Apparently his selfish heart gave place for the adversary which gave him access to use Peter's lips to voice his deceit.  

In war there are three kinds of people.

1. Anti-war protesters
2. The silent ones. They are neither against nor for the war. They are often the silent majority. 
   
3. Volunteers - the people who willingly go to war

Guess which group is worse? It is number 2, the silent ones. They are often like chameleons and will change their tone and words to fit the primary group to which they are apart of. You think they are with you, but they are not. Actually, the number 2's are as much or an even greater hindrance than the anti-war protesters. 

Join me in Praying
If you have been smitten with passivity, apathy, or complacency I challenge you to repent.  Change your mind. Confess where you have erred to the Lord and then .take action. Seriously, prayerfully consider what God would have you do to slay passivity and political correctness in your life. 

Father, forgive me for my complacency, my apathy, and my selfishness. I confess I've been passive. I have held back. Sometimes it was fear, other times it was self preservation, but I held back. Forgive me for being passive. 

Lord I want to be transferred from the "Passive Reserves" and join an "active unit" in your Church. I pray and ask for the same zeal which your Son wrapped himself in. It is the same zeal that caused Him to cleanse Your House and lay His life down  (John 2:17, Psalm 69:9, Isaiah 59:17). I pray for zeal that provokes me to become like Jesus who:

• shared the gospel of the kingdom with strangers
• prayed for the sick
• confronted the religious system
• raised the dead
• loved the sinners
• cleansed the temple

Lord, increase my love,  give me courage and increase my faith, amen!