The only thing necessary
A common quote that has been attributed to multiple people states that “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing”. Whether this quote is true all the time or not it is true in at least one case. In Genesis 3 we see the first couple Adam and Eve get deceived by the serpent into eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A literal reading of Genesis 3 tells us that the command not to eat from this tree was given to Adam before Eve was formed from his rib. Therefore it is Adam’s responsibility to teach this command to Eve. Which it appears he does at some point as she tells the serpent that they can’t eat of that tree.
The problem comes when the serpent continues to press back on Eve’s responses to him ultimately leading to Eve eating the fruit of the tree and giving some to Adam who was with her. I think we like to conveniently forget that last part. Genesis 3 is clear that this whole time Adam is standing there watching Eve interact with the serpent but never says a thing. Not only does he not stand up and stop the interaction pointing to God’s command he doesn’t join the conversation in any manner. He just sits there silently letting Eve get taken in by the serpent’s crafty ways. The most we see out of Adam is that he is there for the conversation and then when his wife gives him the forbidden fruit he just eats it. He doesn’t say anything the whole time.
This failure to act on the part of Adam started the ball rolling on everything from poverty and warfare to disease and death. Before the fruit was consumed there had been no death or disease, everything had been in perfect harmony. Now sure Eve could have stood her ground. I don't think she was completely helpless in this issue but her husband just let her fall into the trap without helping her at all. Ironically despite Adam’s physical presence he leaves Eve, who is created because God said it was “not good for man to be alone”, alone/
So what is my point?
Well as men it is our duty to act. We are given the opportunity to act every day, usually multiple times a day. Some of these potential actions could help others, some are just for us, sometimes we can choos the wrong action. Regardless though we should act.
God did not create men to be passive beings who just sit on the sideline and let things happen in front of us. He didn’t create women for that either but this isn’t written for women so I am not going to go further into that. It is our job as men to protect others, we have a natural inclination to act first. To be fair we don’t always get the action right when we act without thinking but the point is we are wired for action. To sit and be passive is to deny who God made us to be.
The start of a new year often has people thinking about how they can do things differently. This is one I think we can all do differently. As men we can leave behind passivity and embrace action. Whether this be in our devotional lives, our careers, our families or any other area of life, take this time to commit yourself to not letting things just happen around you but by making sure you are doing your part in the places God has placed you. I can’t tell you what this will look like for you. What I can say is that it will ultimately lead to you feeling like an actual participant in your life rather than just a bystander in the lives of others. You may even notice other places where you have not been doing your part and be able to step further into God’s role for you.
