Active Faith v. Passive Acceptance

My wife and I were discussing the upcoming surgery my youngest son will have to endure. The thing we have to guard against is passive acceptance instead of active faith. The temptation is to bury our head in the sand and accept whatever happens. Externally this can look like faith; however, the heart is not given nor is it changed by the experience. Out of self-preservation I can accept my circumstances like a smaller boy accepts bullying by a bigger boy. I’ve learned if I just go willingly the pain won’t last as long. In the case of a life lived by faith, this sabotages Christ-like growth and prevents the breaking of my flesh.

Watchman Nee calls this self-love which prevents the breaking of the “outer man”.

Let us remember that the one reason for all misunderstandings, all fretfulness, all disappointments, is that we secretly love ourselves. Many times problems arise due to our seeking a way of escape – an escape from the working of the cross.
He who has ascended the cross and refuses to drink the vinegar mingled with gall is the one who knows the Lord. Many go up to the cross rather reluctantly, still thinking of drinking vinegar mingled with gall to alleviate their pain. (The Release of the Spirit, p. 19)

My problem in not going “reluctantly” to the cross but willingly all the while thinking of “the vinegar mingled with gall”. I rationalize that my Father wouldn’t want me to suffer and even expects for me to live above suffering. But in reality He has designed the suffering to produce a greater treasure, the breaking of the alabaster vial to release the aroma of His presence through me.

So active faith is recognizing the cup He has for me and willingly drinking it in heart submission to Him with the full anticipation of His working in and through me. Not avoiding, but receiving the full measure of His intent in the circumstances.

Strong in spirit

Do not fall into the snare, as so many have, of trying to suppress your soul, or of despising it. But be strong in spirit so that your soul may be won, saved, and made to serve His fullest joy.

I want to linger with this thought, for I am guilty of attempting to suppress my soul in form of self-discipline in order to be strong in spirit. I’ve gotten it backwards. This quote from the introduction in Watchman Nee’s book, “The Release of the Spirit” pierced me when I read it and was able to read no further.

Do we not in Christendom try to reform our souls instead of allowing the Spirit of God working through our regenerated spirit to transform our souls. The “Just Say No” campaigns do little lasting good. More often than not, they make us feel condemned and guilty when all the while the Spirit cries “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. But if we walk after the soul, we receive the full fury of the soul’s condemnation. The soul will always produce condemnation unless we are transformed by the Spirit of God. The soul in its broken state allows the life of the Spirit (and enlivening of our spirit) to manifest itself in living above the things that produce condemnation. Gal. 5:16 says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.”

When I give all my attention to the negative, I will receive the negative. When I focus on the positive, I will receive the positive. If I put full effort in being “strong in spirit” as opposed to “strong in soul”, I will find myself what many consider more successful in the area of the soul. The focus is spirit and all that we have in the Spirit instead of all we don't have (or need to have) in the flesh.