PASSIVITY

The candidness of my pastor always awakens my heart from slumber... I appreciate his willingness to confront present-day evils in a way that is unapologetic yet loving. I wrote this last week after processing what he had to say on Passivity & all the Lord is showing me recently on the matter.


As much I was stirred by my pastor’s sermon last week, I wish the women of our body would have been as equally confronted by the issue of passivity as the men were. Because somewhere along the way, we too, have substituted passion & purpose for comfort & “security”. We call self-protection DISCRETION. We call control EMPOWERMENT. We call manipulation & power-chasing SMART & SAVVY. We call tolerance NICE. We call idolatry BEAUTY. We call materialism SOPHISTICATED. We call busyness ALTRUISM. We call codependency COMMITMENT. We call fear & people-pleasing PEACE. We call food addictions, shopping binges, and other selfish indulgences REWARDS for a tough week. We call worldly-endorsed pleasure-seeking just having FUN. We appease, compromise and exploit others and call it STATUS & POPULARITY. We call isolation INDEPENDENCE. We degrade our bodies and call it SEXY. And we allow bitterness & unforgiveness to direct our actions, calling it JUSTICE or EQUAL RIGHTS.

We pick and choose the justifications that allow us to remain comfortable in our circles. Whether that manifests in not rocking any boats or leaving a wake of destruction that rocks every boat in our way, our truest selves (that which reflects our Savior) remain veiled. We are women walking around wearing Christ’s nametag, but whose hearts have affairs all day long. We have lost the tender mercy & courageous compassion that we were created for as women because our hearts have chosen other much less worthy lovers. They beckon us to their shores and then shipwreck our hearts. Soon we are aimlessly wandering on islands of broken relationships, damaged reputations, sin-entangled patterns, and empty lives. No man-made efforts can get us off these islands. The only wind powerful enough to carry us back out to sea where our sails are free to soar is the Wind of Redemption. We can fight it and live out a shell of existence on our island or we can trust in it, though the waves appear choppy, allowing it to guide us on an eternal adventure.

Sadly, our hearts have been so numbed to the reality that we are passively watching life pass by. We have become comfortable on the islands of our choice… missing out on the vastness of creation that is out there for us to explore with Christ guiding our ships from the dry places we wander. Similar to the bubble we find ourselves in as Americans… only traveling outside that bubble will open our eyes & give us perspective beyond ourselves.

What will it take us, WOMEN, to re-engage our hearts in a hurting world? Where passivity seems to reign, there is an increasing shortage of men & women whose faith leads to works that bring about real & lasting CHANGE in our society. The few that do… the William Wilberforces… the Mother Theresas… the C.S. Lewis’… the Elizabeth Elliots… the Martin Luthers…the Amy Charmichaels… the Esthers… the A.W. Tozers… we admire from a distance but think to ourselves “my name could never be added to that list”. But what we fail to realize is that for every one of these more globally-known men & women of Christian History, there is a long list of others whose names don’t quite make the more well-known list but who were just as faithful in their own spheres of influence. We very well might be the next Martin Luther or Esther… or we may initiate change on a “smaller”-scale (in our neighborhoods, in our schools, in our kids’ PTA meetings, in our sports leagues, or wherever we find ourselves)…. But whichever is our role to play… we must embrace it fully so that we do not just quietly depart this world when it comes our time to go Home.

I was reflecting on the subject of Christian History just last week after I watched the film Amazing Grace. After viewing such a powerful portrayal of the life of William Wilberforce, I was struck that prior to viewing this movie I had never even heard his name before. His life was incredible… his unbridled passion for justice and his pursuit of it without regard to his own health. What a tragedy that some of the most valiant men and women of God, even those who brought about great social change… are the ones that we never read about in text books. We read about men like Napoleon… a man of great earthly power & possession and it is his name we still to this day make references to and build buildings in honor of. But then again, maybe it’s not such a tragedy that some of the noblest men and women who ever lived do not have much treasure here in their memory… they leave this place and go Home to where their treasure awaits them. So I guess the real tragedy is for men like Napoleon… whose treasure will one day go up in flames. William Wilberforce will enjoy his treasure for eternity! It actually makes sense that these men and women of God would not have much stored up here in memory of them b/c that wasn’t their focus. For men like Napoleon, it was his entire focus and so his legacy continues… for now.

In the movie, this point was observed very eloquently at the end by the Speaker of the House of Parliament. He compares the life of William Wilberforce to that of Napoleon… contrasting the two extremes of power. Napoleon used power for his own selfish advances but Wilberforce harnessed power for the good of others. Napoleon’s chief end was power itself. Wilberforce’s chief end was to glorify God by manifesting his faith in action that lived out his God-given passions, gifts, and talents and inevitably brought about great social reform.

In the movie, when God grabbed a hold of Wilberforce’s life, his heart is so changed that he is considering a life of solitude. The other characters in his life, including his pastor-friend John Newton (lyricist of Amazing Grace), reassure him that the choice is not God or politics. With his leadership, his passion, and his unique abilities & experiences… the choice was BOTH. As is the choice we all face. It’s not God or politics… it’s not ministry or Corporate America… it’s not overseas missions or America ….it’s not joining the worship team or joining a secular band…

When we view life choices like this, our God becomes way too small. Wilberforce’s God was not small at all. His faith was the driving force in all that he did and without it he would have just become a “clanging symbol” in the House of Parliament. But it was his choice to do BOTH that led him to become the fullness of the man God created him to be. Whatever choice we are facing that is similar… we are called to choose BOTH… to invite God into the depth of our desires, our gifts, our passions, our HEART… and pursue steadfastly what is before us. All throughout the Bible we see men and women of action. We must step out of the shadows of comfort & self-protection & allow our faith to manifest itself in works.

I recently began an entrepreneurial endeavor that has required me to examine my comfort zones all over again. I have discovered in pursuing something that has been a long passion of mine (owning my own coffeeshop) that the more I move forward in the vulnerability of pursuing this passion, the more I open myself up to criticism from others & attack from the enemy. But what I have also discovered is that it’s worth it!!! My heart feels more alive now than ever b/c I’m living out something that matters to me! How strange it is that the things that matter to us most are often the very things we run from. Why is that? I think it’s because we’re little chicken-shits. There is no better expression for it. Look around… everywhere you look people are settling for so much less than what they have to offer… so much less than who they are. Our lives become thick with façade & pretense, or dullness & mediocrity. To catch a glimpse of the pretense all you have to do is stroll through one of Dallas’ many VIP lounges on a Friday or Saturday night. To catch a glimpse of mediocrity, look anywhere.

One day we will stand before our Savior and give an account of what we did with what He gave us. So often in my own life, comparison can rob me from living out of my unique giftings, passions, talents, etc. How silly this is. Just because my gift may not be as glamorous as someone else’s does not make it any less of a gift… the Word talks about as a body of Christ, we all work together. Each part living out what it was created for. If the eye were to stop and question it’s role as an eye wishing that it could be eloquent like the mouth, than where would we be? But we do this every day when we minimize the gifts God has given us in comparison to the gifts He has given to others. We miss out on the blessings of offering our role and the result is a life marked by poor stewardship. I have taken this way to lightly in my own life… and what I am beginning to discover is that in order for my greatest strengths & gifts to surface, I have to face my greatest weaknesses & struggles. Because the areas of great strength, gifts, etc that God placed in me when He formed me… are the exact areas that Satan will ruthlessly attack. He knows our potential and he fears it!

I feel at this point that I am rambling and so I will sum up all these thoughts with the more eloquent words of wise men who have gone before us on this journey:

-- “A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
-- “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
-- “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
-- “In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.
-- “Cowardice asks the question 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question 'Is it politic?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
-- “If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large.” - William Wilberforce
-- “To sin is a human business, to justify sins is a devilish business.” - Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy
-- “The unexamined life is not worth living” - Socrates
-- “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” - Abraham Lincoln
-- “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” - Edmund Burke
-- Proverbs 24:11-12: “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. 12 If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?”
-- Isaiah 58:1-12: "Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD ? 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. 12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”