Tag Archives: faith

Passive or Active: Living our Faith Out Loud

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You attend a baseball game … or … you practice hard and play on the team like Babe Ruth.

You watch your kids play … or … you grab a water gun and join in.

You sit and take it while your kid talks back … or … you open your mouth to utilize a teachable moment and some healthy discipline.

You sit quietly during the meeting without sharing your idea … or … you speak up and save the company thousands with your great idea.

Which side of the or do you want to be on? We can live life passively, or we can live life actively.

I used to live extremely passively. Never speaking up, never testing my limits, never really expecting all that much from myself. It was safe. I like safe. Ask anyone who’s close to me and they’ll confirm.

I think my 30’s have been good for me. I’ve done my best to leave my safe, insecure 20’s in the dust and have branched out more than I ever dreamed possible. And with that I’ve seen the fruit that bears from active living—excitement, passion, fulfillment, and hope. I know now I’d never feel fulfilled going back to my passive, predictable lifestyle.


Is the passive vs. active phenomenon any different when it comes to our faith? Absolutely not!

I used to be passive in my faith. Go to church, say my bedtime prayers (if I didn’t fall asleep first), read the Bible (once in a while), be a good person. No risks, nothing uncomfortable.

Then one year we moved and began attending a new church, and I found myself challenged. It was uncomfortable. I tried resisting and holding onto my passive, church-going ways. But I loved the church and couldn’t remain passive for long. Everyone around me seemed inspired to go out and love others in a Jesus-reflecting, radical way. I was impressed. They cared for the needy, did life together, and prayed for each other, on the spot.

“How are you?”

“Oh okay, just fighting a headache this morning.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Can I pray for you right now?”

“That would be great, thanks!”

Sometimes the headache (or whatever it was) was healed/changed. Often it wasn’t. But these people weren’t deterred from praying, because sometimes…SOMETIMES, the power of God broke through and changed everything.

Fast forward over a decade. The things my family and I learned at the Vineyard Church were game-changers. So much that we uprooted our family and moved to Valparaiso, IN to help plant another Vineyard church and experience God in new ways.

We learned the importance of listening as God speaks to us through his Holy Spirit. We learned never to stop praying, and never to stop expecting God to move. We learned to partner with him as he seeks to advance his Kingdom here on earth.

We experienced first-hand that an active faith is life-giving and exciting, while a passive faith is ho-hum and dull.

Now, what I’m not trying to say is that everyone needs to be running around in the streets loving on and praying with everyone they meet. (I mean, maybe some people roll that way, but not this girl.) We don’t always have to be chasing and doing. We do always need to be following the Holy Spirit’s lead.

We should strive to embrace the fact that God is real, alive, and wants to move in us and through us. Knowing this is the case, we should endeavor to tune our ears to the Spirit’s voice and be ready and willing to do whatever God asks of us.

Maybe his voice will tell us to pray with a stranger in the middle of Wal-Mart or befriend a person sitting alone.

Maybe his voice will tell us to move to a new state or take a new job when it seems illogical.

Maybe his voice will tell us to just be still and know how much we are loved by him.

Every day is an adventure when we let the Holy Spirit guide our lives and actively follow where he’s going.

And guess what? You’re invited! As my old church used to put it, “Everybody gets to play!”

You don’t have to be a pastor or go through any special training to live your faith out loud. All you have to do is be a willing follower of Jesus. He’s ready and waiting to guide and speak to you.

The Holy Spirit speaks to and through kids, too!

There’s no age requirement for partnering with the Holy Spirit. No “must be 18 or older to call.” No permission slip for minors.

Kids do what’s modeled (well, often, anyway). Let them see you living out your faith so they’ll be inspired to do the same.

In my upcoming book, Power Up (releasing from https://elklakepublishinginc.com this spring!), my goal is to demonstrate to kids what life can be like when they decide to listen to the Holy Spirit and follow his lead. My prayer is for the book to inspire a new generation of Jesus-followers to trade in their passive faith for an active one.

So give it a try! Take a minute, close your eyes, and ask the Holy Spirit what he wants to say to you. Trust me, once you embrace an active faith, you won’t want to turn back. Leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts and experiences on the matter!

Disclaimer: By no means do I have this “all figured out.” It’s much easier to live passively and I frequently fail to demonstrate to my kids the excitement of following the Spirit, but all I can do is keep trying. Thankfully, there’s grace for me. And for you, too. 🙂

(Also, check out this newly released book by Putty Putman called “Kingdom Impact.” https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Impact-Living-Jesus-Broken/dp/0800798538 I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but it’s on my “read it soon” list and the author is a pastor at the church I attended for years. I have no doubt it’s a life-changing read.)

Ark-Building Faith

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I love a good checklist, don’t you? For groceries, to-do’s, the year ahead – it doesn’t matter. I function best with a plan and a list.

It wasn’t always this way. I used to fly by the seat of my pants more often, moving in whatever direction seemed best at the time. (Ah, carefree college days…) But now the unknown is more likely to stress me out. If, that is, I’m focused on my own goals and agenda.

That’s the interesting thing about following God…learning that he has his own agenda for you and being put in the place to choose God’s path or your own.

I’ve learned that there is a spectrum of Christians. There are Christians who love God, go to church, and are kind to others. They do their thing, go on their way, and love God in the process. And that’s okay – that’s where they are on their journey with God.

And then there are Christians who truly believe that God will guide their way if they let him. So they make as much of a plan as they can, but then sit back and let God guide their way.

Over the past ten years or so, I’d say I have morphed from the first type to the second. And let me just say what an adventure it’s been letting God lead.

Sometimes I’ve felt crazy. Sometimes others have thought I was crazy. You have to be willing to be thought of as crazy by others when you decide to let God pave your way. After all, you don’t have sound logic to back you up, aside from sheer trust in the Lord and his ways.

A man by the name of Noah comes to mind. He had the crazy-sounding faith to build an enormous ark in the middle of the desert, working day after day in the hot, dry sun as onlookers laughed at the seeming ridiculousness of the situation. All because God told him to, whether it made sense to him or not. (Check out Genesis chapters 6-9 for the whole story.) And it’s a good thing Noah was faithful, or else the entire population would have been wiped out.

Five years ago my family and I packed up and moved to Valparaiso, IN to help plant Rolling Hills Vineyard Church  http://www.rollinghillsvineyard.org. What a great and challenging experience it was, though it did include a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. (Okay, not much blood…if any.)

It truly was an incredible experience! So when my husband, www.chipmattis.com , and I both felt God leading us to Bloomington, IN four years later, you can bet that many people we had grown to love in the church community we helped to build “disagreed” with our decision. It was tough.

But here’s the thing. It wasn’t our decision. It was a hundred percent God’s. In fact, I have a backlog of journal entries to demonstrate all the ways God was preparing us and those around us for our move to Bloomington, months before we were even in on his plan for us.

It’s clear as day to Chip and me that God was paving the way, but I’m sure there are still a few people from the church we left who think we’re crazy for moving “for no reason.” And that’s okay. Maybe someday they’ll understand. Regardless, we aren’t seeking man’s approval.

(Side note – sometimes it takes time for God’s reasons to unfold, but you can bet when he directs you that he has reasons even if he hasn’t unveiled them all to you.)

We followed God’s lead and moved to Bloomington a year and a half ago, and truthfully there have been plenty of difficulties and disappointments. But they pale in comparison to the overwhelming peace we have, knowing we’ve followed the Lord. We’re adjusting and adapting, slowly making friends and settling in. Good things take time, right?

God’s timing cannot be rushed, and as utterly frustrating and sometimes maddening as that fact is, it’s a truth that can’t be changed. BUT, we find rest for our souls remembering that he knows infinitely more than us and he loves us so much that he will always guide us down the best path if we’ll give him the trust and permission to do so.

God is a gentleman.

God is a gentleman. He won’t force his ways on us, but he’s ready and waiting to lead us down the best path for us as soon as we give him the go-ahead.

And just because it’s the best path, it doesn’t mean it will be an easy path. We’re still human beings living in a fallen world, after all. But during the difficulties that will inevitably arise for all of us, we can move forward in life knowing that God’s will is being accomplished through us. And that’s a peace and confidence that is unrivaled by this world.

So I’ll stick with my check-list making ways…when it comes to groceries, Christmas lists, and other non-life altering decisions. But when it comes to the path of my family’s future? I’m giving God the pen and letting him make his own list for me.

My goal is to exercise ark-building sort of faith.

What about you? Is God calling you in a new direction? Is he asking you to change jobs, move, or reconsider the plans you made for your own life? I encourage you to listen. Seek his voice. Seek his word through the Bible. Seek wise counsel from Christians that you trust.

His perspective beats our limited view every time. Not only that, but he LOVES you more than you can even imagine. Which means he wants the best for you.

Following God is an adventure, for sure. And making the choice to follow God’s lead is something you will never, ever regret. Making the choice to disregard God’s lead…now that’s a life of regret in the making.

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear from you – please share your thoughts in the comments below, and also let me know if you have an idea for a future blog topic you’d like to see me cover. While you’re at it, don’t forget to sign up with your email address so you can get future posts delivered directly to you!

Giving God the Benefit of the Doubt

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Why does it come so naturally to think the worst about others?

Let’s say a friend is supposed to pick you up so you can go out to dinner together. You’ve been looking forward to it all day and the time of her arrival finally comes…and passes. Twenty minutes later you get a text: “Sorry, running behind, be there soon.”

Your mind gets fired up. She’s just now texting? Where was this text twenty minutes ago? I’ve been counting on this night out all week and she doesn’t even have the decency to be on time. Doesn’t she want to hang out with me?

She finally pulls into the driveway and you hop in the car. She smiles at you and says hello, but you can tell she’s been crying. “Sorry I’m late,” she says. “I was running a couple minutes late because Jason and I got into an argument, and then I got pulled over on the way here since I was trying to make up lost time. Now I have a ticket to deal with…anyway, I’m really glad we’re going out tonight. I could use some friend time.”

Oops. For a second you’re overwhelmed with feelings of your own jerkdom. You mentally scold yourself for doubting your friend and then move on with your evening, comforting your friend and having a fun dinner out.

I’ve realized it’s much easier to think the best about someone when you’re in person. When we’re hearing the account from the person themselves and they’re standing right in front of us, looking into our eyes, our instincts lean more toward understanding, rather than blame.

Isn’t it the same with our relationship with God?

When we are distant from God it’s easy to blame him for all the wrong in our lives. We get a little too comfortable and then we get lazy. We know he’s our friend, we know he’s there for us, and so we don’t lean in to him as much.

We read the Bible…some. We pray…some. We certainly haven’t forgotten about him but we haven’t been actively pursuing him either.

And when something bad happens, as it inevitably does, our world is rocked. So we turn to God. But instead of falling into his arms of love, we start blaming. Why would you let this happen? Why wouldn’t you stop this person from doing that thing? Why…?

But when we’re walking in stride with him, in person, we remember who he really is. We remember his unchangeable character and we give him the benefit of the doubt.

When we make the effort to stay intimately connected with God each and every day, that’s when our trust in him is unshakable. We know who God is. We know his character and his promises, and we don’t doubt his goodness or his love for us.

And then, when he’s standing right in front of us, looking into our eyes, we believe him when he says: I’m sorry this bad thing happened. I hate it too. But I love you more than you could ever know and I’ll never leave you. And even though Earth isn’t perfect, Heaven is. And it’s waiting on you. I’m waiting on you. And I’m for you—always.

And maybe…just maybe next time, whether in dealing with friends or with God, our first instinct will be to trust instead of blame.

 

Please leave me a comment below to let me know your thoughts – I’d love to hear from you. And while you’re at it, make your way over to the “subscribe” button and leave me your email address so I can email you future posts directly! Have a great weekend everybody and thanks for reading!