No Neutral Ground

Matthew 12:30 – “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”

Edmund Burke, a political philosopher and the father of Modern Conservatism, is well-known for a quote that is used to encourage people to take a stand against what is wrong – “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edmund_Burke)  And as much as we would like to believe that the statement is nothing but propaganda, it is quite obvious that there is at least a degree of truth.  How often have we seen in history, the rise of dictators and bloody revolutions, all because a few good people were unwilling to take a stand for what was right?  For example, before World War II even came close to beginning, many world leaders could have easily stopped Hitler’s Nazi regime from conquering Poland; but instead, most of the world ignored the issue and stayed on neutral, believing that Hitler’s thirst for power would stop with Poland.  What they found in the end, at the cost of millions of lives, was that this was not the case.  Sitting on the sidelines did not attenuate the problem; it only empowered one of the worst dictators in all of history.  If only, somebody would have taken a stand.  If only, they had chosen to fight against him.

Although we are not currently experiencing any world wars, there is a spiritual war that has been going on since the dawn of time.  It is the war between good and evil, the war between God and Satan.  Many people today have chosen to ignore this war, to pretend that it is nonexistent, to play the neutral car – not choosing to side with the Devil and become cold-hearted sinners but also not choosing to side with God by giving their lives fully over to Him.  They believe that they can play this middle ground, allowing them to enjoy sin with the hope of less judgment.  But in our short passage today, Jesus makes it clear that there is no neutrality when it comes to this spiritual war – you are either with Him or against Him.  “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”  Christ did not say, “As long as you are not siding with the enemy, you are okay”; but He said, “If you aren’t with me, then you are my enemy.”  There are only two choices, either fully committed to Him or not at all.  There is no gray area.  There is no middle ground.  There is no neutral.

These words of Christ seem to speak to two groups of people – the unbelievers and the believers.  It is clearly first addressed to those who have yet to make a decision for Christ, “Whoever is not with me is against me…”  To them, Christ sets a clear, divisive line – either you give your life to Him or you are an enemy.  So for those who are sitting on the fence, pick a side and pick one soon.  Surprisingly, the second phrase of this quote though seems to addresses believers more than unbelievers in that it states, “…Whoever does not gather with me scatters.”  Christ mentions “gathering” in two main ways in the New Testament – 1) Gathering people into the kingdom of God (i.e. John 4:35-38) and 2) Gathering people in the end of days either into His bosom or into the Lake  of Fire (Matthew 13:24-30).  Because of this, I am inclined to believe that this second phrase is a call to Christians to gather souls to the kingdom of God, or simply, to be witnesses.  So many Christians today have chosen to become apathetic.  Instead of living transformed lives by the renewing of their minds, they conform to this world.  They fail to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and the city set on a hill; instead, they live neutral lives, in the name of tolerance, in order to not offend anyone.  Instead of drawing people to Christ like a brightly burning flame, they flicker in and out, not making much of a difference at all.  They refuse to stand up for Christ and His Word.  They refuse to share the Gospel.  They refuse to be a laborer.  And they do this all to “keep the peace.”  The truth is that sharing the Gospel will be offensive, because you are showing the world their sin and telling them that the only solution is Christ.  But even though the Gospel will hurt and offend, it will also convict and save.  Jesus made it clear, that if you aren’t helping gather people into His kingdom, then you are essentially scattering them out.  There is nothing worse than a dead/neutral Christian both in the sight of God and the world.  To God this half-heartedness is like lukewarm milk, only useful for spitting out (Revelation 3:15-16).  To the world, this “neutrality” can only be seen as hypocrisy, for all it depicts is an untransformed life not devoted to what it says is the most important thing in the world.  Neutrality does not win souls but a devoted life to God and active witnessing.  As Christians, we must decide whether we will be fully devoted to Christ in discipleship and help gather others into His bosom or if we will be “tolerant” and in turn help scatter them.  You are either building the kingdom or simply breaking it down.  Make a decision for Christ today.  There is no neutral ground.