A week or so ago, almost no one who reads my blog would have
knowledge of Joseph Kony. Now, almost
anyone with Facebook (and probably almost everyone else) has heard of him and
the campaign of one group against this man. Why the change of awareness? Why
did this group’s video go “viral”? Because of passion![1]
Passion. What is it that drives you? What, if you could
spend your time focusing on one thing, would be “the” thing?
For believers, Jesus makes clear what the focus of “the”
thing should be: “But seek first His
kingdom and His righteousness…” (Matt. 6:33), “You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matt.
22:37), and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matt. 22:39). In other
words, our primary passions should be for people and for God’s purposes. Our
passion should be in line with Kingdom purposes (I’m not using “kingdom” in this
post in a technical sense. While discussions of “how, when, where” of the
kingdom are worthy discussions, they are not germane to this post. By “kingdom
purpose”, I simply mean does it align with God’s purposes and principles?)
What might be the specific focus of our passion? This is not an exhaustive list, but we might
feel passionate about:
Abortion (protecting
the unborn)
Children’s ministry
Defense of marriage
Evangelism
Inner-City ministry
Missions
Politics (positively
influencing politics)
Prison outreach
Sanctity of marriage
Sexual purity
Single’s ministry
Social justice
The poor and/or
homeless
Youth ministry
And the
all-inclusive, “things such as these”
My personal passions focus around teaching God’s Word (here
and abroad), helping men walk in sexual purity (largely, a lost art in our
culture), and protecting the unborn.
As believers, we need to avoid two traps with our passions. The
first trap: We are not passionate enough about the right things. We effectively put kingdom purposes in second
(or third or…) place. My life, my comfort, my pleasures (among a host of other
things) can become my primary passion. Many of the issue we become passionate
are not bad, in themselves, however, they can squeeze out kingdom issues. For
example, I love to fish. I enjoy few things more than standing in a river,
sitting in a boat, fishing for bass or trout (or any other fish, for that
matter!). But if fishing drives my schedule and my calendar (not the occasional
planned trips, but as a rule), then I am probably not passionate enough about
the right things.
How can you tell if kingdom issues are secondary for you?
Ask yourself two questions: (1) “Is what I am passionate about a biblical
issue?”, and (2) “What am I doing about the kingdom issues I say I am
passionate about?” If the answer to the second is “almost nothing”, then you
know it is really secondary in your life.
A second problem: We become too passionate about our passion.
Yep, too passionate.
Sometimes, we get so wrapped up in our passion that we think
it ought to be everyone’s passion.
Not only should it be everyone’s passion, but they should be equally passionate about it. And
sometimes we minimize the passions of others (“mine is more important than
yours”). “Too passionate” almost always takes a critical view of another’s view.
Let’s see what “too passionate” might look like. So as to not step on any toes
by using real examples, let’s call one passion “crickets” and another passion
“frogs”:
“Everyone knows there are more
crickets than frogs. Frogs are important, but we really need to focus on
crickets. It has a bigger impact.”
“You don’t have the same passion
for frogs as I do; therefore, something is wrong with your thinking.”
“This church doesn’t have enough of a passion
for crickets. I am passionate about crickets, therefore, your ministry is
wrong” (or, in another version, “therefore I am leaving the church”).
“Jesus spoke a lot about frogs.
Therefore, that ought to be our passion.”
We might not say things so blatantly, but you get the idea.
If my passion becomes the mark for
measuring the validity of your
passion, I’ve become too passionate. Be
passionately passionate, but be careful not to become too passionate!
No one person can be passionate about everything and God may
give you a passion for a “bigger” issue than He gives me. No one church can
adequately address every need. But all of us can – and should – be passionate
about something in God’s program. Passions are a lot like spiritual gifts –
some seem more significant than others, but that’s only illusion. Just as each
individual spiritual gift is important for the body as a whole, so is each kingdom-purposed
passion.
Put this in action. Find your kingdom-purposed
passion. Chase it. For the glory of God
-
Ask yourself, “What kingdom purpose(s) am I
passionate about?” If nothing comes to mind, ask God to give you a passion. Ask
a church leader to help you find your passion.
-
Get involved regularly in some capacity pursuing
your passion. I have a friend who moved to India to pursue his. Your
involvement might not be as drastic (but you never know where God may lead!),
but get actively involved.
-
Encourage others to find their passion.
-
Encourage others as they pursue their passion.
-
Help develop a ministry within your church that
addresses your passion.
-
Partner with others. For example, your church
might not have an inner-city outreach program, and might not have the resources
to develop an effective program. Without leaving your church, find an
inner-city program you can get involved in.
Find your kingdom-purposed passion. Chase it. For the glory
of God!
