High Agency Christianity: The Answer to Loser Theology

Loser Theology Produces Low Agency Christians

I’ve written a good bit about how loser theology makes Christians passive, weak, and ineffective for the Kingdom of God. I’ve also written that its time for Christians to ditch loser theology and build to win. (I’m almost finished with my rough draft of a book on loser theology too).

So what’s the solution? What’s the inverse of loser theology? The answer is to become a “high agency” Christian.

Loser theology produces what I’d call “low agency” Christians. This is because they believe it is more righteous to not assert agency in the world, preferring a more passive “I’m-just-gonna-trust-God” posture. They assume that the agency of God’s hidden providence will work on their behalf, passively assuming whatever comes their way is God’s will.

There’s two problems with this. First, scripture simply does not teach that “trusting God” means we should stop taking initiative. God’s providence typically works through human agency, not apart from it. Second, it doesn’t work. God made man to exercise dominion over the earth. Thus, human agency is a hard-wired feature of how the world works. Consequently, low agency Christians are essentially opting-out of taking dominion, leaving all the dominion taking to unbelievers who have no religious scruples against agency.

Thus, loser theology produces low-agency Christians who believe faithfulness requires them to be rendered impotent before the world while the world asserts its agency to advance ungodliness.

This is exactly backwards. Our faith should not produce low-agency Christians, but high-agency Christians.

Low Agency Christians Over-focus on Negative Biblical Commands

There are two types of commands in scripture: positive (prescriptions) and negative (prohibitions). Negative commands are prohibitions. Half of the 10 Commandments are framed this way: You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not covet. These commands set boundaries and define actions to avoid.

Positive commands are prescriptive, expressed positively as duties. They require us to do things. For example, “Honor your father and mother,” “love your neighbor as yourself,” and “Go and make disciples.”

To obey negative commands (prohibitions), you only need to exercise restraining agency. Restraining agency limits what you will do. You limit your freedom by imposing restrictions. You need to muster the self-control to not do what is prohibited.

Negative commands are specific and obvious. It’s easy to identify when you’ve broken them. For example, if God says, “do not cross this line,” and you cross it, it is obvious that you’ve disobeyed. If you do not cross it, then you will have obeyed. Negative commands can be obeyed passively without doing anything. I can obey God’s command to not steal without getting off my couch.

Since negative commands are spelled out in scripture, then a Christian can convince himself he is being fully obedient to God by simply avoiding sin. In so doing, he has only exercised his agency of restraint.

High Agency Christians Obey Positive and Negative Commands

Obedience to positive commands in scripture requires more creativity than obedience to negative commands, because the positive commands themselves appeal to one’s Christian freedom. People cannot “devote themselves to good works” (Titus 3:14) by sitting on the couch. They must get off the couch and choose to do something they might otherwise not have done. This requires a greater degree of agency, which I call creating agency. The command to do good works has far and wide application potential, as though God is telling us, “you must choose when and how you will obey this command.”

Negative commands appeal directly to the will, obligating you to not do something sinful. Positive commands appeal to the imagination and the will, obligating you to exercise agency at a higher level. The potential applications are difficult to quantify.

Here are a few examples to illustrate my point.

The command to “Honor your father and mother” isn’t limited to a specific, one-time act. It can be disobeyed in a single act if one curses his father to his face. But it cannot be obeyed in a single act. It entails a lifetime of various duties, obligations, and choices across in a variety of circumstances.

Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself” requires a degree of creative agency to obey. If you insult your neighbor, you have sinned. But how will you know if you’d loved your neighbor? This command isn’t something you can put on a checklist and mark “done” when completed. The command requires a comprehensive attitude towards another person to seek their highest good at all times.

In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” The command to “let your light shine before others” is an orientation of one’s life which is not limited to a singular act of service.

The seventh commandment prohibits adultery, forbidding a specific, sinful behavior. However, negative commands in scripture imply positive duties to the opposite. The positive command can be seen in Eph 5:25, which says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” The positive command to love your wife involves a higher degree of agency, because there are countless opportunities over the course of a marriage to demonstrate love. One can obey the negative command against adultery by suppressing his lustful desires. But obeying the positive command to love one’s wife can only be obeyed by asserting his agency to do something good he might otherwise not have chosen to do.

In short, positive and negative commands are different because they involve various potential expressions and different degrees of human agency.

Conclusion

Why is this important? I make this distinction to highlight the fact that pietists will often focus on negative obedience at the expense of positive obedience. In other words, they assume that all God requires of them is to avoid sin, neglecting to acknowledge that sin avoidance is only part of Christian obedience. The other part of Christian obedience is the assertion of spirit filled agency in positive ways to do good for others. If obedience is understood wholly in terms of “bad things I don’t do,” then passivity will be your standard of success.

In the parable of the minas (Luke 19), the master commended the first two servants who’s enterprising efforts produced gains of ten and five more minas, respectively. They asserted their agency, took risks, engaged in business, and gained an increase.

The third servant, however, was “worthless,” according to the master. This servant risked nothing and gained nothing. He was passive. He thought the master would be impressed by the fact that he didn’t do anything wrong. He focused only on negative obedience, and thus passivity was his standard of success.

He failed to recognize that the master expected him to positively assert creative agency to do business and gain the increase. Thus, the lesson of the parable is this: the master is more pleased with bold yet imperfect action than with squeaky clean, idol hunting inaction.

A common pitfall for Christians is to simply play it safe and assume their Christian duty stops at merely avoiding sin. It’s safer because asserting agency risks potentially getting something wrong and causing problems that could have been avoided.

This is how loser theology can simultaneously appear righteous while also producing passive, weak Christians. It is the theology of the worthless servant who thought the master would be happy if he just kept his nose clean and didn’t get into any trouble. But the master expected more of him, just as he does of us. It isn’t enough to simply avoid bad things. We must trust God, step into the arena, take a risk, and do something good for his glory.

Future Proof Christianity Conference, May 8-10 in Cincinnati

If you want to learn about becoming a high-agency Christian from experienced pastors who know what it takes, the “Future Proof Christianity” conference in Cincinnati/Northern KY is for you.

In the years to come, Christians need to be rugged. Believers with a backbone, unshaken, unapologetic, and prepared to thrive for generations.

At Future Proof Christianity, we’re calling believers to anchor themselves in the unchanging truths of Scripture and apply them to every area of life.

Speakers: We’ve got a stellar lineup of speakers for the Future Proof Christianity conference sponsored by King’s Domain. You’ll hear keynote addresses from Jeff Durbin, Joe Rigney, C.R. Wiley, Tom Ascol, Michael Foster, David Schrock, and Michael Clary.

Website: www.futureproofchristianity.com

Dates: May 8-10, 2025

Location: Christ the King Church (638 Highland Avenue, Ft. Thomas, KY 41075)

Cost: $120 (early bird pricing is $110 through the end of February).

I’d love to personally invite all readers of this newsletter to come and join us this year!

(For sponsorship options, send us an email and we’ll get you more info!)