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For the first thirty years of his life, Jesus was passive. When Mary pointed out that they had run out of wine at the wedding in Cana, Jesus’ reply: “Dear woman, that’s not our problem. My time has not yet come.” (John 2:3)

“That’s not our problem”, is a reply from many in the church today. When confronted with the possibility of doing more activities in the church, most see it as a waste of time. And I would agree a lot of the time. Activities in churches are frequently designed for the benefit of a religious system instead of a heart-felt desire to build the kingdom of God.

So we see the church oscillate between passive and active Christianity. In many ways, passive Christianity reflects the life of Jesus before his calling. Unlike Jesus though, many Christians never step into their God-given calling later on.

The Bible is filled with examples of those who wanted to see more action, yet failed. And those who wished to stay passive, when God called them to action. Moses experienced both cases. When he was young and brash, he took action by killing an Egyptian thinking that he would help his fellow Hebrew; the result was that he fled from the authorities and lived as shepherd for forty years. When he turned eighty years old, and ready to retire, God called him to confront pharaoh. The many excuses that Moses tried to give God, indicates that he was hoping to lead a comfortable life. Yet that was not God’s plan. God pulled Moses out of retirement.

The argument for active Christianity may best be seen in the parable of the talents. A man went on a long trip and gave his three servants bags of silver. The first two servants managed to double their investment, whereas the third buried the silver in the ground. God rewarded the first two servants with more responsibility, while he removed what was given to the lazy servant. The moral of the story: “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” (Matt 25:29 NLT)

Another argument for active Christianity is “faith without works is dead”:

 Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone. (James 2:21-24)

In some cases, however, God opposes people for taking matters into their own hands:

I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.

“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches. But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do. (Revelations 2:2-6)

This passage illustrates that God does not reward Christians who make it their life work to identify false prophets (unless presumably he calls them to do it – which is much less frequent than is the case). Despite being sincere, they take their eyes of Jesus. God told them to go back to the works they did at first.

Perhaps the only “formula” that can be seen in the Bible, is that people who became active for God were once passive. There was a transition in virtually every case that heralded the start of their new careers for God. This transition point reflected a moment when they felt called. Exceptions like Nehemiah, who decided to rebuild Jerusalem without a specific calling, may indicate that it wasn’t really God’s plan to do it in the way Nehemiah imagined it. Virtually everybody else, who does anything significant for God heard him speak. They receive a mandate (what to do) and a blueprint (a strategy how to do it).

Does that mean that passive Christianity continues, until someone is confronted with a burning bush? Does that mean there is no compulsion to “do anything” for God until he specifically shows you the way in which he would do it?

Before we answer this question, let me point out that the various denominations have been schooled to answer this question in their own unique way. The Evangelicals would argue that they have the “great commission”, which means everyone has a responsibility to evangelize; this is in stark contrast with what the Bible describes as building God’s kingdom and that being an evangelist is not everyone’s gift. Similarly, the Pentecostals would argue that they need to listen to promptings from the Holy Spirit and stir up the five-fold ministry gifts to be able to walk in the supernatural; this tends to undervalue simple acts of kindness. The Catholics would brandish their own traditions as being the type of works that God expects, which is in contrast to the focus on God alone in determining which unique path to take (love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength).

Jesus said this:

So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished. (John 5:19-20 NLT)

The implications of this passage mean that real Christian works starts with what the Father is doing. Unfortunately, many Christians have tried to implement this verse by seeing what God is doing in the world, and then trying to emulate it. This is still a second-hand type of Christianity because what Jesus was saying is that it is possible to see directly what the Father is doing. It is possible to visit with the Father in heaven and see his business.

Some of the most overlooked verses involve those about:

  • Seeing God: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Matthew 5:8 NIV)
  • Entering heaven “No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering.” (Hebrews 12:22 NLT)
  • Operating in heaven. “For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:6 NLT)

The focus on heaven, instead of what is happening on earth – is indeed a rarity when it comes to taking Christian action. Many mystics don’t want to come down. Many pragmatists don’t want to go up. Nevertheless, the challenge with Christianity is, and always has been, about integrating the supernatural world that God reigns in with the earthly realm.