BROADCASTS.com

WINNING WITH THE WORD “Winning with the Word” is a weekly blog that will help you to be a winner in life by applying God’s principles for living the abundant life as found in the Bible, God’s manual for life. AN INVITATION TO YOU: To follow this blog, click here.  If this blog has blessed you, please encourage your family and friends to subscribe as well. Thank you! ______________________________________           Do you prefer listening instead of reading? Then click below to listen to today’s blog post:   https://media.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/content.blubrry.com/winning_with_the_word/WWW_080320The_Dangers_of_Passivity.mp3 ______________________________________________ Hello and Happy Day! This is Dr. MaryAnn Diorio, Novelist and Life Coach, welcoming you to another episode of Winning with the Word. Today is Monday, August 3, 2020. Today’s Podcast is Episode #31 in Series 2020 and is titled "The Dangers of Passivity." _______________________________________________ God hates passivity.  But the devil loves it. What is passivity? Passivity is the trait of holding back and letting someone else act in a given circumstance. Passive people avoid resistance and confrontation and give in to external influences.  Noted Bible teacher Francis Frangipane calls passivity "Satan's secret weapon," a tool to render Christ-Followers ineffective. As Frangipane further notes, "There is no room for a passive spirit in God's army."  There are times when passivity is warranted among Christ-followers, such as in submitting to God. But there are many more times when passivity is unwarranted and harmful both to the passive Christian and to the Body of Christ.  We are living in times in which passivity on the part of righteous people is causing the destruction of our nation. Demonic forces are taking down our country while far too many Christ-followers are sitting back and just watching.  Jesus warned us of what would happen in the last days. But He also commanded His Church to occupy until He comes. With what are we to occupy ourselves? We are to occupy ourselves with preaching the Gospel. But why is it that so many Christians are failing to preach the Gospel? Why is it that so many Christ-followers are simply allowing the enemy to encroach upon the Church? Why are they being passive? Here are some insights on passivity: 1) Passivity is a learned behavior.  It has psychological roots in rejection, abandonment, and fear.  Passive people are often self-centered rather than other-centered. They are afraid of speaking out because they are afraid of being rejected. Sadly, many Christ-followers fall into this category.  2) Passive people do not see themselves as passive. They will often object to accusations of passivity, replying that they work very hard and make many sacrifices in their families or ministries. While this may be true, it is an out-of-balance perspective.  Provision has many facets to it, and one facet is also bold leadership.  3) Passive people see themselves as victims, not as victors. This is contrary to what God says about us. Scripture tells us that we are more than conquerors through Christ Who loved us. This perspective is not the perspective of a passive person. The opposite of passivity is boldness. While passivity holds back, boldness pushes ahead. While passivity refuses to get involved and take action, boldness jumps at the opportunity to get involved and to take action.  Interestingly, Scripture rarely requires passivity but most often it requires boldness. In order to obey God's commands, we are often required to get out of our comfort zones and to speak out. For example, it is impossible to obey the Great Commission while being passive. In his excellent book, THE SPIRITUAL MAN, Watchman Nee writes this about passivity: "God has not called us to be passive. He has called us to fight. We are engaged in a spiritual battle of intense proportions,