Passivity Is Death

There's so much swirling around us in our culture today. North Korea has nukes and is getting ready to test an ICBM. Iran is close to having them too. Pakistan is unraveling. Europe seems to be ignoring external and internal threats. Here in America we have an economic crisis, a leadership crisis, and cultural challenges continue to rise.

Even in our little corner of the world, Valparaiso Florida, we have our city suing the Air Force to stop the F-35 from coming. We have a rising tide of crime, of homelessness, of poverty - and not just material poverty - poverty of spirit. People are drifting from "shiny thing" to "shiny thing." They seek life and fulfillment through experiences and possessions.

A phrase jumped off the pages of a book I was reading this morning.

"Passivity is death."

The world, our nation, and the people in it cannot sit back and wait to see what the outcome is from all the threats we face. We cannot wait for someone else to come and fix the problems. And those of us who follow Jesus must act to change the status quo. We cannot just be a Christian, we must act in ways that show that we are - that sync with what Jesus would do.

I'm reading the gospels again and again this week as I prepare for Palm Sunday and Holy Week. One thing is apparent - Jesus was a man on a mission. The man was not without the reality of fear and anguish, either. But he chose the hard path because not doing so would have left things as they were, and they were rotten.

7 The Lord God will help Me;
therefore I have not been humiliated;
therefore I have set My face like flint,
and I know I will not be put to shame.
Isaiah 50:7 (HCSB)

It was an act of His will, out of His love for the Father, and for us.

So here's the question.

Do we love God and our neighbors enough to fight the urge to sit on the sideline and let someone else handle the problems of our communities? Are we asleep in the light, or ready to push back the darkness?

Passivity is death.