He Who has Ears, Let Him Hear!

(The Cost of Passivity)

Faith was never meant to be passive; it was designed to be strengthened! Passivity is often associated with a lack of motivation, engagement, or assertiveness, wherein an individual may display a passive attitude, behavior, or approach. It denotes a tendency to refrain from acting, making decisions, or asserting oneself. While passivity can be a temporary response to specific circumstances, chronic passivity can hinder personal growth and impede spiritual development. Passivity could be the result of not properly counting the cost. Luke 14:28-30, 33-35 says, 'For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? ‘Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” Therefore, anyone who does not renounce all that they have cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” This was not a lesson about construction; it was a warning about a shallow or impulsive commitment. The price of Discipleship cannot be determined or initiated by a current trial, personal circumstances, or what is popular or trendy. This decision comes with a high cost!

To the Church in Laodicea (Passivity)

Most people don’t lose faith suddenly; they postpone it. “I’ll study when life slows down.” “I am not as bad as I used to be.” “I already know enough, or I will start next week.” “That’s not my calling or gifting.” Passive faith weakens personal commitments and undermines faithfulness. The symptoms are subtle, but the results can be devastating. Revelation 3:14 -22“To the angel of the church in Laodicea, write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. ‘But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so that you can become rich; and white clothes to wear so that you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so that you can see. I rebuke and discipline those whom I love. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the victorious one, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on His throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” These verses are not for an unbeliever, but a stark warning to believers to guard against mediocrity in their Christian walk and influence.

Jesus is the King who judges wickedness and purifies His people: 1 Peter 1:7 So that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Malachi 3:3 “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness.” Like the refiner’s fire, He burned away the impurities of the priests. Like launderer’s soap, He washed away their uncleanness. Jeremiah 6:29–30; Ezekiel 22:17–22; Zechariah 3:5. The refiner’s fire and launderer’s soap indicate the holiness and burning judgment of the Messiah. His purifying brightness and absolute holiness will affect those who serve Him, creating a cleansed temple (the Church) and a purified priesthood. This is both past, present, and future.

 The lukewarm (passive) believer may have faith that exists without the testing by fire. This group attends church and agrees with the truth but remains uncommitted. They sit close enough to the fire to feel spiritual but far enough away to avoid real surrender. This position looks safe, but scripture describes it as dangerous, because comfort or passivity replaces conviction. The lukewarm believer has more in common with the religious pretender than a disciple of Christ. Jesus warned in Matt 7:21 “not everyone who calls Me Lord,” really knows Him or is known by Jesus. Outward actions may look holy while the heart or inward motives remain unchanged. Knowledge without obedience creates the illusion of faith while producing no lasting fruit. When the test comes, the distractions and disappointments of life drag on them, and their surrender and commitment then falter.

The Steps of Passivity

 Sadly, Passive faith does not willingly disappear; it just weakens and dilutes your effectiveness. Matt 13:18-22 “Therefore hear the parable of the Sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seeds by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now, he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. Matt 13:13-15 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, ' Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of these people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’

The Threshing Floor (The Guard Against Passivity)

 The threshing floor is a significant symbol in the Bible: it is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, the threshing floor was a regular process in the daily agricultural practices of men. Although threshing floors are an ancient method of processing grain, it remains a significant part of our spiritual lives today. The Old Testament mentions the threshing floor through the story of Ruth and Boaz, the direct descendant of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the picture of “The Kinsman Redeemer,” and because of this, the threshing floor is still the place of surrender and holiness for the modern Christian. It is a flat, usually smooth surface used during grain harvest. This space was used before equipment and machinery were designed. It was used to separate the grain from the chaff by manual separation. Animals would trample out the grain, or workers would crush the sheaves with sticks. As a result, the grain would be separated from the husks. The final separation would be done by tossing the grain into the wind, separating those still with husk and those already edible. The process is called winnowing.

Symbol of Judgement and Holiness

 The threshing floor was a symbol of judgment, symbolic of Heaven and hell. On the threshing floor, the chaff symbolizes the destruction of the wicked according to Psalm 1:4, “Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.” Hosea 13:3, as it is written, therefore they will be like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears, like chaff swirling from a threshing floor, like smoke escaping through a window. Matthew 3:12, as it is written, His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

The Separation Between Good and Evil

 This brings us to the last meaning of the threshing floor, or the separation between good and evil, in a spiritual sense. While the threshing floor is a physical space where chaff and edible grain are separated, it symbolizes far more. The story of Ruth and Boaz shows that Ruth represents the believer, while Boaz represents the redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. Their story reflects what happens to us when we surrender to the threshing floor of our spirit. It becomes the place where we are transformed for God’s kingdom and His purposes.

The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (while Men sleep)

Matt 13: 24-30 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So, the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seeds in your field? How then does it have tares? ‘He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up? ‘But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares, you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Matt 13:36-43 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

What Does All This Mean?

 The parable of the unfinished tower exposes an underlying spiritual danger. Many begin building a life that looks Christian on the outside but collapses under pressure. The problem is not passion; the problem is a foundation built on emotion, but not conviction. Jesus Christ is our Redeemer, and we are the grain, and He redeems us by separating the husk from us so that we may be worthy to stand in the presence of God our Father. The threshing floor experience is necessary to separate us from our selfish nature. The word for tares is zizanion. This is not just random weeds. This is likely darnel, a poisonous plant that in its early growing phases seems identical to wheat, almost undetectable until maturity. LET THAT SINK IN!

 Jesus was not warning about the obvious evil; He was warning us about counterfeit righteousness that looks real until harvest time. Let us not sleep, because Passivity or (tares) always looks to gain a foothold to choke out our passionate pursuit of God’s will for our lives. Though it is subtle, it is persistent. Matt 13:16-17 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

                  “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”