The great temptation came from the serpent, and it was too much for the first humans to bear. They questioned the trustworthiness, goodness and generosity of God, and they gave themselves over to self-lordship. Instead of trusting in His design as their Creator, they sought to become the charters of their own destinies. Because Genesis 3 begins with the serpent talking to the woman, we might think that the man was off doing the gardening that day. But notice clearly his posture—he was with her. And yet he was silent. He was passive.
And so the trend continues. Today, for me, there are all kinds of reasons why I might be passive today. I might be passive when I see sin in my relationships because it’s none of my business. I might be passive in my marriage because I am resentful of my wife. I might be passive with my kids because I’m too tired from the day at work, or I’m too scared to dig deeper into that little heart, or I’m too self-absorbed with my own issues and struggles to try and take on someone else’s burdens.
Men, I can feel it inside me—this urge to simply let things happen, to assume a position of powerlessness, to take the easy road of being uninformed and uninvested. But this is not the road God has charted out for us. This is not the road that He Himself takes on behalf of us. God is a Father who is actively engaged, not passively aware.
So must it be with us. For the sake of our families, for the sake of our culture, for the sake of the church, passivity is a luxury we cannot afford. So what’s the remedy for this ailment? What’s the action point for this disease?
It’s simple—engagement. True enough, you can’t do everything. You can’t coach every team. You can’t make time for every conversation. You can’t serve in every ministry role. But you can resist the urge to let everything just “happen.”
