What the Bible says about Disobedience, Passive
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Proverbs 18:9 Could we picture ourselves strapping on a bomb under our coats, walking into a crowded shopping mall, and blowing ourselves to smithereens along with several hundred innocent victims? Could we imagine ourselves as hostage takers, poised with a scimitar to decapitate a helpless prisoner? Could we picture ourselves cowardly donning ski masks and kidnapping women and children to use as human shields to accomplish our sinister objectives? Most of us would loathe having to perform what these disgusting images portray, yet amazingly, we may have unwittingly brought such a judgment upon ourselves. Proverbs 18:9 reveals that the slothful or lazy man "is a brother to him who is a great destroyer." In other words, the sluggard or lackadaisical person is just as culpable in the act of destruction as one who ignites a car bomb. The word "destroyer" in this scripture is from the Hebrew mashchiyth (Strong's #4889) whose verb, shachath (Strong's #7843), denotes "to corrupt, spoil, ruin, mar, destroy." This verb appears 150 times in the Old Testament, and mashchiyth, twelve times, including describing the angel of death, "the destroyer," that God sent to devastate Egypt's firstborn (Exodus 12:23). Sin and evil have an active and a passive component, often referred to as "sins of commission" and "sins of omission." Interestingly, the first two of the capital sins listed in Revelation 21:8, "cowardly" and "unbelieving," are sins of omission calling for execution in the Lake of Fire. Likewise, Jesus warns in Luke 9:61 of the person who begins the conversion process but then reconsiders: "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God" (Luke 9:62). As much as we may think to the contrary, passivity and neglect can destroy as thoroughly as active terrorism or militant aggression. David F. Maas Could You Be a Spiritual Terrorist? Related Topics: Capital Crimes | Capital Punishment | Cowardliness | Deleterious Effects of Neglect | Deleterious Effects of Passivity | Disobedience, Passive | Evil, Passive | Neglect | Passive form of Evil | Passivity | Sins of Commission | Sins of Omission | Sluggard | Sluggard as Perpetrator of Ruin | Spiritual Terrorists | Terrorists, Spiritual | Unbelieving

Matthew 25:16-18 Since the servants did not know how long their master would be gone, they began trading without delay. The one with five talents increased his by 100%, as did the servant with two talents. In each case, their original assets were doubled. If the servant with one talent had just worked by trading with it, his reward would have been the same. The motivation for service and producing good fruit should be love for the Master, a virtue the servant with one talent lacked. Sadly, he failed to trade with his talent and multiply it. Fearing his master's severity, he wrapped his lord's asset in a handkerchief and hid it in a hole in the earth. Fear is a sad thing when a person dreads losing something valuable so much that he hoards it instead of putting it to good use. So it is with a spiritual gift also. While his fellow-servants were actively trading their talents, the third servant was idle. He was neither actively obedient nor disobedient, but passively disobedient. He did not intend to hurt his master's property; he simply failed to improve it. Similar to the foolish virgins suffering because they neglected to prepare, the third servant in this parable suffers because he did nothing with his talent. We must not hide our light under a basket (Matthew 5:14-16). Spiritual talents must be used in service to Christ for the glory of God - for the joy and honor of Him who is the Giver of every good gift (I Corinthians 10:31; James 1:17). Martin G. Collins Parable of the Talents (Part Two) Related Topics: Disobedience, Passive | Fear | Fearfulness | Motivation for Service | Parable of the Talents | Passive Disobedience | Spiritual Gifts | Spiritual Gifts, Neglect of | Spiritual Neglect | Spiritual Productivity | Spiritual Timidity | Stewardship | Stewardship of Talents

 

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