How to Recognize Passive Aggression
Passive aggression in individuals is something that many prophets have a hard time dealing with. What does it mean to be passive aggressive? Passive aggression is a type of behavior or personality characterized by indirect resistance to other people, as well as an avoidance of direct confrontation. Passive aggression is manifested in several ways such as procrastinating, pouting, making snide remarks, or intentionally sabotaging certain tasks.
The reason why prophets struggle with passive aggressive people is because these people do not directly confront, and sometimes even deny their ill feelings, making them difficult to read, and even more difficult to sort things out with. A passive aggressive person will not tell you what is wrong when you ask, nor will they willingly volunteer their sentiments or opinions. Instead, they subtly release their negative emotions in ways that can serve to be obstacles for prophetic work.
For example, a prophet speaks to a prominent member of the church about the fact that he tends to be tardy for church meetings often, which can be disrupting. This member says that he understands, and will try to make it on time in the future. However, he is secretly irritated about the fact that his attention was called regarding his tardiness.
Because of the church member’s aggression, he is deliberately absent in many of the meetings. This serves as a problem to the rest of the community, as they cannot make any major decisions or plans without the inputs of all active members. When asked about his absenteeism, the church member responds by saying; “I would rather be absent then late, as apparently it disrupts the meetings.”
It is clear that although the church member did not overtly express his aggression, he did release it in a subtle, yet destructive manner. That is why prophets need to be wary when it comes to dealing with passive aggressive people. They need to be able to find ways to deal with passive aggression, so that it may not obstruct their mission.
The first step in dealing with passive aggression is to recognize it.1 Through Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) which studies a patterned behavior commonly known as “body language”, prophets can learn to monitor the non-verbal signals that people send. They can observe how people move their hands, express themselves through their eyes, and even breathe. These non-verbal cues can tell a lot about what a person is thinking, which is why prophets must pay close attention to these.
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