The Passive Church and the Active Church: Which one are you?

So I was reading through Acts 5 and came across these verses. They touched my heart and spoke to me. As a pastor was saying this morning, the book of Acts is the pattern by which we (the church) must follow. I thought to myself as I read these verses wow! So I decided to write this. I hope it makes you think! :-)

I have heard many Christians say “I don’t like to talk to people about Jesus, unless they ask first. I prefer to let them see my life and hope that they want to know more just because of what they see.” While it is true that we need to live upright lives that speak for us, we must be more than passive believers. We must be active. Jesus was active. If this was untrue, He would never have thrown people out of the temple. If this was untrue, He would never have preached the way He did. He would have never boldly rebuked the Sanhedrin. He would never have gone about healing the sick and performing miracles. Jesus did all these things and did them with boldness. In Matthew 4:17, it says, "From that time Jesus began to preach, crying out, Repent (change your mind for the better, heartily amend your ways, with abhorrence of your past sins), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Amplified)" And in Mark 16:14,15, it says, "Afterward He appeared to the Eleven [apostles themselves] as they reclined at table; and He reproved and reproached them for their unbelief (their lack of faith) and their hardness of heart, because they had refused to believe those who had seen Him and looked at Him attentively after He had risen [from death]. And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature [of the whole human race]." Does this sound like a passive person to you? As “little Christs” like the name Christians implies, we should be mimicking these actions just like the early church did. These members of the early church acted so similar to Jesus that they experienced the same persecutions that He did.

In Acts 5:27-42, Peter and the apostles were brought before the Sanhedrin. They had been preaching in the temple. The Sanhedrin began to question them the same way that they had previously questioned Jesus. The Sanhedrin became angered because of the gospel they were teaching. The verses that really stand out to me is this, “But a certain Pharisee in the council (Sanhedrin) named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, highly esteemed by all the people, standing up, ordered that the apostles be taken outside for a little while. Then he addressed them [the council, saying]: Men of Israel, take care in regard to what you propose to do concerning these men.… For if this doctrine or purpose or undertaking or movement is of human origin, it will fail (be overthrown and come to nothing); But if it is of God, you will not be able to stop or overthrow or destroy them; you might even be found fighting against God!” What wisdom this man had! Wisdom or fear... haha He saw what others did not see! He realized that the force that they were fighting against could be the one Force that they never should go against.

After the men were released, they went out rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer that shame for their Lord. This part and the next are what really grabbed my attention. These apostles were REJOICING for being flogged, arrested, imprisoned, and rebuked by these men. All this for the name of the Lord! How many people today crawl into the corner and cry at the first sign of someone disagreeing with them? How many modern day Christians are more concerned with being liked and accepted than they are about reaching people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Shame on us for acting this way! Not only did the apostles rejoice for what had happened to them, they continued to do those acts that previously awarded them with persecution! These men were ACTIVE in their beliefs! I am so tired of being told that the church should be passive! Why should we? The Bible does not give me the example of a passive Jesus or passive disciples. So why should I be passive? We must take a stand, church! Today is the day to stand up and fight for souls! If we want to see a change, we must fight for it! So I encourage you, stop being LAZY! Yes, I said it. LAZY! We have been lazy and because of it, many souls have been lost. No longer! If you care to go about your Father’s business, you must rise up from our comfort zone and preach the good news that we have been graced to hear! We must take an active pursuit of the lost! God give us the strength! And every time someone laughs at you or slams a door in your face, I encourage you to remember that you have been counted worthy of suffering persecution for your Lord! Hallelujah!

To sum this up, I just want to leave you with this. Being passive accomplishes little. Thank God that He is not a passive God! When I see Jesus face to face, I want Him to look at me and say, “well done!” What do you want Him to say to you?

Acts 5 Amplified
27So they brought them and set them before the council (Sanhedrin). And the high priest examined them by questioning,
28Saying, We definitely commanded and strictly charged you not to teach in or about this Name; yet here you have flooded Jerusalem with your doctrine and you intend to bring this [b]Man's blood upon us.
29Then Peter and the apostles replied, We must obey God rather than men.
30The God of our forefathers raised up Jesus, Whom you killed by hanging Him on a tree (cross).(A)
31God exalted Him to His right hand to be Prince and Leader and Savior and Deliverer and Preserver, in order to grant repentance to Israel and to bestow forgiveness and release from sins.
32And we are witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit is also, Whom God has bestowed on those who obey Him.
33Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and infuriated and wanted to kill the disciples.
34But a certain Pharisee in the council (Sanhedrin) named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, highly esteemed by all the people, standing up, ordered that the apostles be taken outside for a little while.
35Then he addressed them [the council, saying]: Men of Israel, take care in regard to what you propose to do concerning these men.
36For before our time there arose Theudas, asserting himself to be a person of importance, with whom a number of men allied themselves, about 400; but he was killed and all who had listened to and adhered to him were scattered and brought to nothing.
37And after this one rose up Judas the Galilean, [who led an uprising] during the time of the census, and drew away a popular following after him; he also perished and all his adherents were scattered.
38Now in the present case let me say to you, stand off (withdraw) from these men and let them alone. For if this doctrine or purpose or undertaking or movement is of human origin, it will fail (be overthrown and come to nothing);
39But if it is of God, you will not be able to stop or overthrow or destroy them; you might even be found fighting against God!
40So, convinced by him, they took his advice; and summoning the apostles, they flogged them and sternly forbade them to speak in or about the name of Jesus, and allowed them to go.
41So they went out from the presence of the council (Sanhedrin), rejoicing that they were being counted worthy [dignified by the indignity] to suffer shame and be exposed to disgrace for [the sake of] His name.
42Yet [in spite of the threats] they never ceased for a single day, both in the temple area and at home, to teach and to proclaim the good news (Gospel) of Jesus [as] the Christ (the Messiah).

What is truth?

Merriam-Webster's dictionary defines truth as "fidelity, constancy; sincerity in action, character, and utterance; fidelity to an original or to a standard."

Truth. This word is the epitome of what most every person seeks. Many spend their entire lives searching for this. Others claim to find it at an early age. While some run away from it. Truth gives hope to many and fear to some. Truth is something that once you find it, you must value it above all else.

The main question of today is how often do we actually hear or even speak the truth? The answer: hardly ever. We are bombarded with lies from all around. Lies in politics. Lies in religion. Lies everywhere. One can hardly go shopping without seeing them. The magazines we read. The literature we discuss. The television we watch. While most are disguised as half-truths, they are lies nonetheless. It is a pity that we can not go a day without hearing, seeing, or speaking falsehoods. While my blog will primarily pertain to the speaking of the truth regarding political and religious events, I will also discuss the kinds of truths we are not being told in other walks of life. God help us all in this society whose truth is based on lies and a personal moral obligation. Where people claim that they can do anything that is right by them because they think themselves to be gods who know the truth. It sickens me to think of the shame that our world is putting itself through as our moral compass becomes nothing better than a toilet (in other words, full of crap). Rebellious attitudes plague our society and destroy it with selfish people that care only for themselves. Oh God have mercy upon our souls!

I do not pretend to be perfect and have all the answers, but I will give my opinion on occurrences, and whether you agree with me or not, I ask that you respect my opinion by only answering it with educated responses. If you do not know your facts and will only give a mindless response based on facts that you have been "fed", do not leave a post. If you do respond with an intellectual argument, however, I will respect you for your opinion.

God bless you all! Remember to ALWAYS Speak the Truth!