Learning to Be Offensive/Proactive/Fruitful not Defensive/Reactive/Passive

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”  John 15:16

Yesterday in our weekly 4:00 p.m. prayer meeting one of our intercessors prayed Psalm 90:12, “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.”  The only possible way any of us can have this heart of wisdom, a heart that responds rightly to life and to our Savior in any and every circumstance of life is for He Himself to teach us and train us. Only He sees what is coming. Only He knows the extent of our days. Only He knows what is the best investment of our time, energy and resources on any given day.

A huge problem in the church until we mature in Christ and in the Holy Spirit – is living a more passive, knee jerk, defensive, reactive kind of life. And the primary realm or context in which we live this passive, knee jerk, defensive, reactive kind of life is that of social media and news via whatever means we digest it and to a lesser extent being physically with family members and friends who are not growing as disciples of Jesus.

Unless we grew up with Spirit filled/led parents who routinely sought to train and disciple us in how to live as disciples of Jesus Christ in this fallen, sin enslaved world, we most likely grew up living this more passive, knee jerk, defensive, reactive kind of life. It is not easy to shake because most of the people around us live this way and know nothing else.

Did you know that the average American is on social media of one form or another for two hours and 20 minutes daily?  And the average American watches T.V. 3-4 hours a day with older Americans watching more. This kind of obsession or addiction has led to a very passive reactive kind of existence.

In contrast to this way of life, we as disciples of Jesus Christ have been called to live a more offensive, proactive, fruitful and responsive (not reactive) life. In many ways it does not matter what our news media is saying, what our government leaders are doing, what our family/clan members are saying, what our “friends” on facebook or Instagram are saying, how our neighbors are reacting, etc. In many ways their thoughts, words, actions or more reactions should have little bearing on how we live out our short stay on this planet.

Most of the people around me live for the day. They do not think about eternity. They do not think daily that any day or hour they could be standing face to face with the King of kings and Lord of lords as my last Scripture reading this morning stated, “….but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” I Peter 4:5

Peter was a lot like this in his early days following Jesus. Reactive, impulsive, very self focused. But after many years of walking with and serving his Savior, he followed the above statement, with this reminder to believers: “The end of all things is near; …” It could be tonight or tomorrow or next month. Our daily living should always have this in mind. Since that is true, how should we then live is the logical question? Peter succinctly answers that question. But it is very interesting that he does not immediately follow that statement of reality with action items, but rather a call to godly character. He continues, “….therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.” 

Peter is not concerned that we know timelines and all the details surrounding Christ’s return. He is very concerned that we know how to live in response to the reality that His return is ever nearer. And the primary action he expects us to take is that of prayer. But he now knows in his latter years that devotion to prayer does not come easy. It requires two absolutely necessary characteristics to be in place or else we will be found responding to the call to devoted prayer like Peter did in the garden of Gethsemane, where three times Jesus found him (and James and John) sleeping instead of praying.

Devoted prayer in the life of the believer or disciple of Jesus rides on the back of two crucial characteristics: sound judgment and sober spirit - - perhaps better understood as sound thinking and sober living. No disciple of Jesus will ever attain to a life of devoted prayer unless he has learned to operate with a sound mind and a sober spirit. Another way to see what Peter is after here is only when I exercise self control over my thoughts and self control over my passions and emotions will I be able to devote myself to prayer. And only when I am able to devote myself to prayer as a lifestyle will I be able to live rightly in light of His soon return or my soon death, whichever comes first, either of which might come a lot sooner than we tend to think.

So let’s try to flesh this out some:

Christian # 1 just spent an hour one evening after work mindlessly strolling on Instagram, then facebook, then the news via Yahoo.com. The Holy Spirit whispered for him to go find a quiet place and pray, but because he saw an add about really happy 20/30 somethings eating ice cream together watching a movie, he went to the frig, got some icecream and then walked over to his t.v. and began looking for a good movie. Instead of responding to the Holy Spirit and out of communion with God – then living in obedience to His word and will, and thus bearing fruit, he reacted to powerful marketing images and gave into a more passive existence.

Christian # 2 after work, checked his email to see if there was anything he needed to respond to, then realizing his soul needs recharged after a long stressful day at work, closed his laptop, grabbed his Bible and turned to Psalm 23 and asked the Lord to lead him beside whatever “quiet waters” might be in his world. Being worn down by the challenges at work, he was tempted to turn on the tube and watch a movie and check out, but knowing (self control over thoughts) from past experience how that never recharges his soul, he resisted and picked up a good book. Feeling not full after dinner, and remembering all of a sudden the conversation he overheard at work about how a co-worker lives to eat cheesecake, and knowing he could purchase some great cheesecake by just a short walk down the street and around the corner, but also knowing what that much sugar does to his ability to focus (self control over passions), he decided to eat some apple slices instead and jumped into his biography of Hudson Taylor – the great missionary to China.

Am I saying Thou shalt not get on facebook or Instagram or turn on the T.V. or eat ice cream or cheesecake? No I am not. I’m saying mindlessly doing any of those things apart from any leading and anointing of the Holy Spirit will cause us to live reactively and passively rather than responsibly and fruitfully.

The call to fruitfulness mentioned in John 15:16 at the top of this article is only possible via a life of continual abiding and intercession – responding to our Lord’s will and way for us as a way of life, rather than reacting to the latest crisis or scandal in our nation, over which media personalities obsess and try to get us to obsess.

This morning I started off my meditations in Psalm 40, wherein we see one of the many prophetic portraits in the Old Testament of our Savior’s life on this earth. I am deeply grateful for how Holy Spirit made sure we have many examples of how He operated while on earth and how He therefore wants us to operate in our short stay on earth. First in vs. 6 we find Jesus speaking and declaring to His heavenly Father, “Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required..”   Jesus knew His Father was not into religious rituals, but rather relationship.  And for that relationship to develop Jesus’s ears needed to be opened to hear His voice. We know from vs. 5 that God’s thoughts toward each of us are “…too numerous to count.”  So our taking the time daily and throughout the day to stop and hear His voice and listen to His heart is far more important to Him than any amount of religious activities we might give ourselves to.

Then Jesus says in vs. 8 to the Father, “I delight to do Your will, O my God’ Your law is within my heart.”   Jesus lived to first discern the Father’s will and then do it, helped greatly by His regular meditation in the Scriptures.

Father, please help each of us reading this article to have ears (dug out by You) to hear Your voice. Please give us an ever greater appetite for Your word so we can know Your will. Please help us to be far more eager to hear Your voice than the voice of our favorite commentators on social media or the news. May our greatest passion be to know You and do Your will and bring glory to Your name via the fruit we bear out of ever deepening relationship with You. In Jesus’s name, Amen!