Passive vs. Active Theology

Sometimes I like to call things as they are, and so I have to say that the sermon on Sunday at my church was one of the longest, driest, snoozefests that I've ever endured. Except... it wasn't.

The point of the sermon was that the task of becoming transformed Christians is not a passive thing, but an active one. God will work on us, but only if we work on ourselves - that to become more in Christ is to actively seek becoming more in Christ. There, I explained the sermon in about forty four minutes less time than the actual sermon. But that being said, this sermon was like yeast. On its own, it did nothing but lay there. But combined with the word of God, it perked up and grew like the bread of heaven.

I realized, as I struggled to stay awake, that God's words were penetrating into my heart and mind - that even as I forced my eyes open, my eyes were being opened from within. It was a really good example of how God works in our lives.

Let's figure out who we want for a spokesman for the Church. I think he or she should be a dynamic personality, one with wit and exuberance, perhaps someone young with a winning smile and an enthusiastic knowledge of God. This winning spokesman should have plenty of experience dealing with the poor and unfortunate and should, naturally, already share the Church's view of the world and of God's role in it. This person should also be a role model for the young and old alike. They should walk the world blameless and in high regard.

God, on the other hand, wants a middle-aged persecutor of his Church who has actively been seeking to have His disciples arrested and murdered and who basically believes that any person who practices this faith is a heretic.

There seems to be a disconnect here - like a mind-numbingly boring sermon that has the power to fill the mind with incredible thoughts. Its almost as if God has His own plan for not just our lives, but our very words and actions - as if anything we say or do, no matter how insignificant and no matter how poorly delivered, might plant the seeds of God's word in someone else's life. God seems to have His own way of getting things done.

So, as I sat passively listening to a sermon about being active, I realized that God was actively engaging me with His words to start thinking about my sometimes too passive existence.

And as a result, I managed to stay awake.

Either that, or it was the coffee I'd had before the service.