Devotion 6 - No Neutral Ground
An invisible war is being waged on earth every day as Satan fights to maintain control of the kingdoms of the world. Humanity is caught in the crossfire of this cosmic conflict and the battle also rages within our hearts, minds and souls as Satan also strives to keep our focus away and off from God. Hence, when it comes to our position in Christ, there is no place for indecisiveness. Jesus’ expectation is very clear: He demands complete allegiance. This is how He worded it:
Matt.12:30 – “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
Lk.11:23 – “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.”
Both scriptures point out that neutrality toward Christ is not possible. And because there is no neutrality with Christ, we are forced to decide for or against Him. We either fight against evil or against righteousness. We either fight for the kingdom of God or for the kingdom of evil. Trying to be neutral by doing nothing for God is to be on the side of Satan because we are allowing evil to continue and to grow without opposition. The translation from The Message Bible makes it even clearer.
“This is war, and there is no neutral ground. If you’re not on my side, you’re the enemy; if you’re not helping, you’re making things worse.”
Thus, there is no middle ground; there is no place to be neutral. If we are not gathering with Him, then we are scattering or working against Him. We cannot avoid a decision about His Kingdom, “not to decide” is a decision. When we disobey God, we essentially obey Satan, just as Eve did when she took her first bite of the fruit explicitly forbidden by God.
And so, a fundamental question to ask is, “Who is the Master of my life?” Does the love of Christ compel us to the unreserved commitment of obedience and of faith? If Christ is not the master and Lord of our life, He is not Lord at all! And the evidence of our allegiance to Christ will be seen in whether we are working with Him or against Him.
To Gather and to Scatter
Jesus further warned that not being actively engaged in gathering with Him is equivalent to being engaged in scattering from Him - “He who does not gather with Me scatters.”
The action of scattering is of course the opposite of gathering. They are actions that are part of a shepherd’s life. In the Greek language, they can refer to the gathering of sheep and the scattering of sheep. For example, the word ‘scatter’ is used in John 10:12 to describe the action of a wolf when it gets into a flock of sheep.
Jn.10:12 – “But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.”
Here also we see that there is no neutral ground. We are either a shepherd trying to gather the sheep or we are a wolf who scatters them. But these words can also be used in an agricultural sense. We gather and we scatter during the harvest period. It is an allusion to the gathering of wheat and binding it in sheaves and losing the wheat by scattering the wheat loose in the field. He who does not gather in the harvest scatters it. He destroys the harvest.
The point of the picture used by Jesus here is very clear. Everything that we do day by day will have one of these two effects: It is either going to draw people to the Lord Jesus or away from Him.
There is also no middle ground or neutrality in the spiritual realm. When Jesus does not rule our hearts as King and the Lord of our lives, we are vulnerable to evil spirits. If we are not with Him, we are on the other side. In fact, the scripture clearly warns us that even as children of God, we can be enemies of God if we continue to love the world.
James 4:4 – “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
Adulterer & Adulteress – one who has a covenant relationship with one party, and yet involved with another. Hence, when God used the words adulterer and adulteress on His children, He was referring to spiritual adultery; when we pursue or seek the pleasure and gain of the world after our union and allegiance to Christ.