“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:6-7. Paul was speaking to his young friend and disciple, Timothy, when he uttered these encouraging words. As Christians we are called to be active, working team players within the body of Christ, not passive bench-warmers However, if we are honest with ourselves, many would-be players are twiddling their thumbs on the sidelines.
The dictionary defines passive as: Not reacting visibly to something that might be expected to produce manifestations of an emotion or feeling. 2.not participating readily or actively; inactive. Not only are many Christians uninvolved, they are without passion, emotion and feeling for something that should be producing a noticeable difference in them.
Take for example a Cardinal fan during this season, or throughout the baseball season for that matter, they are animated, pumped with adrenaline and proudly wearing red garb. They are excited, and eager to tell the world how much they love their team. Self-control and passivity do not apply to these folks, and it shouldn’t! When you are excited about something, you want to talk about it, heck you want to shout it to the world.
So why has a big chunk of the church fallen asleep in the pews, and we don‘t hear a peep from them? In my opinion there are two basic reasons. 1. The individual never really entered in to a personal with Christ, it was merely passed down to them like Grandma’s brooch. Or, 2. The have allowed the original flame of faith, the gift from God of our salvation, to die out. Either way the results are passive believers, which in itself is an oxymoron…you can’t truly believe and be passive at the same time.
I mentioned that being on an extended vacation had left my fire in desperate need of stoking. Thank God for reminding me, through Christian friends and teachers, to get my spiritual bellows out and start fanning. Has your fire become a pile of smoldering ashes, or worse yet no fire at all? Get off the bench, read your Bible, find and attend a study group, surround yourself with on-fire individuals, and watch as the dry logs become engulfed in flames!
The dictionary defines passive as: Not reacting visibly to something that might be expected to produce manifestations of an emotion or feeling. 2.not participating readily or actively; inactive. Not only are many Christians uninvolved, they are without passion, emotion and feeling for something that should be producing a noticeable difference in them.
Take for example a Cardinal fan during this season, or throughout the baseball season for that matter, they are animated, pumped with adrenaline and proudly wearing red garb. They are excited, and eager to tell the world how much they love their team. Self-control and passivity do not apply to these folks, and it shouldn’t! When you are excited about something, you want to talk about it, heck you want to shout it to the world.
So why has a big chunk of the church fallen asleep in the pews, and we don‘t hear a peep from them? In my opinion there are two basic reasons. 1. The individual never really entered in to a personal with Christ, it was merely passed down to them like Grandma’s brooch. Or, 2. The have allowed the original flame of faith, the gift from God of our salvation, to die out. Either way the results are passive believers, which in itself is an oxymoron…you can’t truly believe and be passive at the same time.
I mentioned that being on an extended vacation had left my fire in desperate need of stoking. Thank God for reminding me, through Christian friends and teachers, to get my spiritual bellows out and start fanning. Has your fire become a pile of smoldering ashes, or worse yet no fire at all? Get off the bench, read your Bible, find and attend a study group, surround yourself with on-fire individuals, and watch as the dry logs become engulfed in flames!
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