"It is what I have many times referred to as "a spirit of witchcraft." That's what a controlling spirit is, that tries to control others, whether man or woman." (http://www.hissheep.org/deliverance/breaking_free_from_a_controlling_spirit.html)
"Satan’s Jezebel spirit is an unrepentant rebel, a haughty enemy of God, His prophets and His people. Jezebel is arrogant, pride-filled, self-righteous - a seductive, self-proclaimed “goddess” and prophetess." (http://www.sweety.com/Jezebel.pdf)
"The Jezebel Spirit" is a term many churchgoers throw around, usually to describe women they disapprove of (although this particular complex is one that can affect both sexes quite equally). I'm not interested in blasting church ladies whose clothing-to-makeup-ratio is...shall we say...slightly backwards. I'm similarly not going to blame the world's problems on the militant feminists who constantly undermine the roles of all authority figures and men around them. What few people really address, especially when teaching from 1 Kings, is Ahab's complete failure to do anything while his wife flushed their reign down the toilet. While it's true that Jezebel called for the death of the prophets, hated Elijah, and was generally abominable, why doesn't anyone really discuss Ahab's failings in detail?
He saw the destruction his wife caused. He was her king and her husband and yet bowed to her every whim. In his apathy, he shirked every manly responsibility. Ahab allowed himself to be controlled, seduced, and manipulated by the woman at his side. Colton was telling me that in the Men's Fraternity (a study for the guys at our church), they discussed the original sin. Adam's sin wasn't so much in eating of the fruit of the tree. It rested mainly in shirking his responsibilities as a man. He was given charge over Eve, to protect and guide her. And he sat back and let her be deceived. Furthermore, he did not own up to the mistake.
The other night, I was telling a friend why I'm weary of dating and he inadvertently inspired this blog. Among the many reasons, it's that I'm sick of leading the way. The responsibility of planning every date, fixing every problem, and directing the relationship should not fall to me. Adults should not have to spoon-feed one another. And yet I have constantly found the case to be that the guy would sit back until it got to the point that I had to take the reins. It's like living with roommates. You all let the kitchen sink stay full and smelly for a few days, hoping the others will take care of it, but then one of you breaks down and cleans it all. If the pattern continues, the one who does the dishes will become resentful. Same goes with relationships. Anywho, sorry--soapbox. My friend actually told me (funny story) that someone said another girl and I had the Jezebel spirit, but he suggested they only thought that because we are tired of (excuse the phrase) pansy-ass boys who refuse to take charge. That's when we started discussing Adam's failure, which then lead into talking about how Ahab didn't try and reclaim his own rule.
It is really easy for a girl who is neither delicate nor docile to be mistaken for a Jezebel. But let's think about this--Deborah was a great judge over Israel who made huge decisions for the nation and lead the way. Strong, intellectual, and/or assertive qualities in women are often unappealing to many guys that have come out of this generation, because if we're being honest, we've churned out a lot of Ahabs. However, just as a Jezebel spirit doesn't strictly dwell in women, the Ahab complex isn't something that only affects mama's boys and lazy video game enthusiasts. It's something that can fall on either sex and is potentially more hazardous (I think), if not more annoying.
The problem with the Ahab complex is that it causes us to just sit around and complain about how things are rather than take steps to change it. We allow the manipulators and upstagers to control the situation until we're all stuck in the ugly aftermath. Whether it's a legalistic attitude clouding the spiritual climate, sexual deviance, witchcraft, or just a chick having to wear the pants in a relationship, we're all helping the Jezebel spirit by staying with Ahab's lazy, wimpy method.
To make it brief, the moral of the story is: Man up. Especially you, men.
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