There has been a spirit that has been secretly pulling the church away from the active role it once had. This spirit is causing a delay in the move that God wants to do.
Jesus said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” (Matthew 9:37)
There was a problem back then, but the Acts 2 revival in the Upper Room led to an awakening that shook the region of Jerusalem where people were getting saved by large numbers.
What happened to that Acts 2 fire? What happened to that vibrant church we once saw? There has been a decline in the church since the great preachers of the 40s, 50s, and 60s. What is causing the church to go to sleep and remain powerless today? The answer is simple but sad.
The church today has allowed a spirit of passivity to come through its doors, and we have given it access to work within the four walls. We have allowed this spirit to bring forth passiveness and complacency. This spirit has changed sermons to bring forth a good feeling rather than conviction. This spirit has caused an awake church to become lazy and asleep. This spirit took the fight out of the church and it says we need to just cuddle up with the Father and listen to His heartbeat. We don’t need to do anything but stay in the Father’s lap, because this is the way it is supposed to be.
I am here to argue that thought process. I know I might step on some toes of those who are partnered up with this spirit, but now is the time to act and not be passive.
Paul knew what it was like to be active in the faith. He knew what it was like to fight spiritually against the spiritual attacks for his life, wealth, and ministry. Paul didn’t back down, and he is a role model the church needs today. He was, in today’s words, “hard core.” I mean, he was stoned several times, once to death. He was shipwrecked, bitten by a viper, enslaved, whipped, run out of almost every town he went into by religious zealots, and then was crucified in Rome. At any point, Paul could have said, “No way! This is way too much for me to handle,” and quit. He could have climbed up into the Father’s lap and said, “I just want to be here resting in Your presence.” But instead, he fought for everything he had. He did not give up when times became rough, but fought and fought the good fight of faith.
He even told Timothy:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7-8 NASB)
Paul wasn’t passive, but was active. Let’s see what the definition of passivity really means. It will shock you when you see its definition.
Passivity is defined as: “acceptance of what happens, without active response or resistance.”
So the spirit of passivity wants the church just to sit back and allow things to happen, with no voice or activity. This spirit doesn’t want the church to be active and functional, but rather it brings forth disunity, dysfunction, and sabotage.
The spirit of passivity tells people this is the way things are supposed to be. The darkness in the world is the way it is, and there is nothing to we can do about it. It says it is better to go with the flow rather than stand out anyway.
It is time we become active once again and cast the spirit of passivity out of our lives and our churches. We need to stand up and say, “No more! We are not taking a backseat any longer,” and begin to move.
The spirit of passivity will use others to put pressure on those that are active to get them into a state of passiveness. This can be done in ways of slander, disagreement, and speaking against you.
People that operate in the spirit of passivity will condemn the move and say it will never work. They will do things to try to stop you from pressing forward and get you to doing things in complacency.
God is saying to the church it is time to wake up and it is time to move. It is time for the church to become active once again. We are supposed to be the light of the world. Passivity says keep the cover over the light and not let it shine, but God wants us to let our light shine bright. We are called to be city changers. We are called to let our light shine like a beacon in a dark world full of lost and dying people.
To counteract the spirit of passivity, we need to stand strong in the faith and not let our pride get in the way. We need to stay focused on the mission at hand and not let the situations around us rule our actions. God is looking for those vessels who will stand up and say enough is enough with the norm and start living out of the norm. It is time we take God out of the box and allow Him to freely move in our churches.
Let us not remain passive and powerless any further. Let us become active and move into the destinies and plans God has for us and the church today.
Let us dare to step out and be the light of this world. It is up to us to cancel the assignment of the spirit of passivity by getting active and moving into our destinies.
God Bless,
Eric Schroeder