The church needs a Christlikeness which is modeled on Christ himself, and on every aspect of His character and teaching. When the church once again looks like Jesus, then—if history is any indication—more seekers than ever will say, as I once did, that “there must be something in this idea that gives it power.”

In part 1 of this article, I argued that a temperament of “Christian passivity” is a problem in the contemporary church. In part II, I argue that the Bible warns us against sins of passivity and calls us to boldness. I also offer some suggestions for promoting a Christian culture that can cultivate the virtue of boldness. 
A second argument—one less outwardly vapid—urges that “while Christ’s harsh language is always righteous, ours is tainted by sin.” Like the previous argument, the statement is entirely factually correct, but does nothing to justify the implied conclusion.
The problem with this argument it is not that it observes that human anger is usually sinful, which is obviously true. Instead, the problem is that it assumes that human passivity is not sinful—or, at least, that it is less sinful than anger. But this is simply begging the question: the argument commits the very practice it is trying to defend, assuming a standard of passivity and then reading the Bible according to that standard.
What, then, do biblical ethics teach us about passivity? To begin with, if passivity is good, or even preferable by comparison to anger, we would not expect Jesus to single out sins of inaction as particularly egregious. Yet this is precisely what Jesus does, such as in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats.
The Bible presents passivity as sinful in direct terms. To take the most well-known example first, consider Peter’s denial of Christ. When Jesus asked Peter “Do you love me?” three times in John 21, this seems to have wounded Peter far more than when Jesus called Peter “Satan” in Mark 8. Yet Christ delivered the rebuke, not because Peter was sometimes abrasive—which he was—but because Peter had been a coward. Peter’s denial of Jesus—a sin committed specifically to avoid conflict and its consequences—is presented as a profound betrayal of Jesus, not a minor offense. This fact, by itself, refutes the idea that conflict-avoidant meekness is somehow the standard of goodness.
Likewise, when God warned Ezekiel about what would happen if Ezekiel did not “speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way,” He was not warning Ezekiel away from being overzealous, but from being too passive. This verse—Ezekiel 3:18—has been cited throughout church history by Christians who have taken bold positions, such as Ambrose of Milan when he barred the Emperor Theodosius from communion in 390, or by Gregory VII when he excommunicated Henry IV in 1076.
The reason the Bible condemns passivity is because it leads to hellish suffering and hell. In some of the most grotesque passages in the Old Testament, the authors condemn cowardice using the motif of a man who will not risk his safety to defend his wife or concubine from sexual abuse. This occurs in Judges 19, in Genesis 12, 20, and 26, and in 1 Kings 20. One striking aspect of these stories is that they present pure inversions of the Gospel. Christ loved the church as His bride, and therefore gave Himself up for her sake. In contrast, the man in each of these stories loved his own bride so little that he was willing to give her over to be raped for his own sake. He committed, in other words, an act of pure evil.
Appropriately, then, Revelation 21 lists “the cowardly” first among those who “will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur,” together with “the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars.” The Greek word translated as “cowardly” connotes—among other things—being agreeable in order to avoid conflict. In the Iliad, for example, Achilles uses the same word when he tells Agamemnon “Surely I would be called cowardly and of no account, if I am to yield to you in every matter that you say.”
I note with some hesitation that, while the Bible also condemns sinful anger—in Greek, “Ὀργίζεσθε”—this word does not appear in Revelation 21’s pantheon of evil. I mention this not to make light of sins of anger—which I know firsthand can be ruinous—but because Christians have committed the opposite error. We assume that sins of passivity are less deadly than sins of zeal but, if anything, the inverse is true. When Simeon and Levi defend their sister by massacring the entire male population of Shechem, there may be a suggestion of moral judgment from the author. But this judgment pales in comparison to the nihilistic abyss of Judges 19. By the end of the story, the Levite protagonist seems like Tolkien’s Gollum: a withered creature barely recognizable as a human being. This is cowardice, one of the fathers of all sin, in all its wretchedness.
Read More

Written by Michael J. Glodo |
Sunday, April 7, 2024
The Aaronic blessing not only contains but also anticipates the greater fullness of seeing God face to face, seeing our Creator and our Redeemer as he is, and as a consequence, sharing in his divine life, sharing in his beatitude, his blessedness.

The ultimate climax or aim can be seen, first of all, from the stair steps of the blessing itself. “The Lord bless you and keep you.” That is the Lord’s protection, his preserving power. “The Lord make his face to shine up on you and be gracious to you.” God’s grace. And then the third line is, “The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” And so shalom is that big idea of God reigning for the good of his people and their happiness and his glory. Shalom is in the benediction itself. That’s the goal or the purpose.
Read More
Related Posts:

While you should bypass that football shirt with Philippians 4:13 on it, don’t miss the bigger lesson from Paul’s letter. No matter what twists and turns you find yourself taking in the Christian life, you can learn to be content with a joyful spirit just as the apostle Paul exemplified. If you find yourself on a mountain peak or valley floor—the blessings or trials should not prevent you from walking by faith with a joyful heart. If you find yourself suffering for the sake of following in the footsteps of Jesus, as you take up your cross, do so with a heart of contentment and joy.

If you pay attention to social media, it’s very common to see athletes posting #Phil413 in relation to their athletic accomplishments. The Bible verse appears on t-shirts for Christian schools, the social media platforms for MMA fighters, and it’s likewise used by Track & Field athletes as they seek to give credit to Christ for their abilities.
The verse became more widely known due to Tim Tebow, the former Heisman winner and quarterback for the Florida Gators during the 2008 season. As Tebow led his team to the national championship game against Oklahoma, he and his teammates would write messages in their black eye paint before every game. As players were in the locker room writing their mother’s name or their zip code under their eyes, Tebow decided to go a different direction. He wrote Philippians 4:13.
During the national championship game, Tim Tebow chose a different Bible verse. He wrote John 3:16 under his eyes knowing that the cameras would be focused on him throughout the entire game. Following the game, he was informed that some 94 million people had searched for “John 3:16” on Google. While that’s certainly a great thing, what about Philippians 4:13? Is it about scoring touchdowns or winning the big game?
One of the pastoral epistles in the New Testament is known as “Philippians” because it was addressed to the church in the city of Philippi. This letter also contains one of the most famous verses in the Bible—Philippians 4:13.
As Paul penned this letter, he was writing from prison.  Paul was not writing from a magnificent library. He was not writing from a comfortable vacation resort. He was writing from prison and he had a specific purpose in mind as he addressed the church in this strategic city east of Rome. This city of Philippi was located on the main highway (Via Egnatia) that stretched from Rome to the east.  Therefore, it received many visitors, prospered economically, and became a wealthy city. It was there that God raised up a church.
Read More
Related Posts: