The Fallacy of a Neutral Zone

Is there a middle ground between being all in for Jesus and being in rebellion against Him? Is there a place for someone to be just a good, decent believer but not a zealot? Can’t I just be going around my daily life seeking to do good without having to make Jesus Lord over every decision? Do my kids need to give themselves over to Christ daily or can they just go about being good kids?
When we read the scriptures, we find many ways in which God makes clear that there is no neutral. Either Jesus is Lord of ALL or He is NOT Lord AT all. Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, you will bear much fruit, apart from Me you can do NOTHING.” (John 15:5 emphasis added.) “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…” (John 14:15, 21, 23) “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself… For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)
In Galatians, the options presented are either the work of the Spirit or the works of the flesh. There is no middle ground. And these were just a group of believers trying to be righteous before God. However, these believers who were trying to be good in their own strength were only kidding themselves. God asks “who bewitched you?” (Gal. 3:1) Trying to be good through their own strength was going to end up leading them into evil. Look up the obvious works of the flesh in Gal. 5:19-21.
We are sometimes surprised by an ugly argument or a vicious comment. “Where did that come from?” we ask ourselves later. It often arises when we are silently choosing to resist the Spirit of God, silently working to get our own way. At that point there is no evidence of the Spirit — “Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control.”
Why would trying to be a good person result in evil? Because every day we (and our children) are presented with the choice — either present every aspect of ourselves to God or to present ourselves to sin, self, or our sin nature. (Romans 6:6-7, 11-14) It is an active choice. Are we surrendering ourselves to the Lordship of Christ in our thinking, our feelings, our values, our attitudes and our actions? If not, we are quietly edging Jesus out of the center of our lives.
The result is that we become either a weapon of righteousness or a weapon of wickedness. Unwittingly, we become a tool of the devil. Our refusal to surrender, even in a passive-aggressive low key way, is actually rebellion against our Creator. Think of dealing with anger. God presents us with a warning in Eph. 4:26, “Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” When we refuse to deal with things God’s way, we are giving Satan leverage in our life; he gains a foothold within us, our relationships, and especially our families. 
We (us as school leaders, us as parents, and yes our children as well) are always either in rebellion or obedience, either guided by the flesh or the Spirit, either surrendered to God or resisting Him. In our Info Meetings we refer to a quote by Abraham Kuyper: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign overall, does not cry, Mine!” All is Christ’s. We are to recognize this in all things. 
 
Note the encouragement and promise of victory in James 4:6-7 “’God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” May God grant us the victory over the evil one. May God give us the grace to live surrendered, expecting the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life through us. May our homes be transformed by the fruit of His Spirit as we let Christ be Lord, 24/7/365. Yours in humility, Christopher
 
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