passions-chapter one

I am getting irritated with the word, “passion.” If there is ever a point in your life that you must say you are passionate about something then the passion is gone. People should see by your actions that you are passionate. Passion is something to be lived out, not declared.

Passion is one of THOSE words. You know, the words overused and misused by Christians everywhere. One of those words we snatch out of the air and hold onto for dear life, pretending it holds the key to evangelism. Those words we hide behind again and again so we do not actually have to get out there. You have been to those meetings right? “We need to figure out what we are passionate about.” “We shouldn’t move on anything until we pray and see if this is God’s passion for our church.” “Let’s take this inventory, it will tell us what we are passionate about.” We sit and talk our passions to death. This convinces me they were never passions to begin with.

Passions are powerful. They compel us. I am always confused that we would have to determine what compels us. It’s a look backward at our life that shows us our passion. This is what bothers us. We are more comfortable believing we do not have time for our passions. We prefer to think that if it were not for real life we could be more passionate. This is a faulty thought. Something compels us everyday. Something. That something is what you are passionate about. If you are not currently acting on your passion, then it is not passion. It can’t be simply because it is not compelling us to action. Someone will counter this by stating they “have to go to work” even though they hate it. They will say this prevents them from doing something they love because they are at a point in their lives in which they must stay at their hated jobs. Then these people have to take another step backwards to find their passion. Why are they staying at jobs they hate? Does it pay the bills so their kids are secure and cared for? So this person in the hated job does have a passion. Their children compel them to work. They are passionate about their children.

We do not have to sit in a meeting or take a test to determine our passions. We are all compelled by something. Passions guide us and our actions. Passion influences every decision we make. I heard a man a few weeks ago state that he is passionate about music. This man does not participate in anything with music. He has casual conversations occasionally with musicians. He is not truly connected to anyone in the music world. Yet, he claims to be passionate about singing. What is unfortunate is this man is very involved in visiting people who are sick or dying. He is constantly checking on families and staying connected with their needs. God has gifted Him with the ability to walk with these people. They are his unacknowledged passion. He claims to be passionate about something he has no part of, yet does not recognize his gift; his true passion. Why? I have no idea.

We refer to the crucifixion as The Passion. Christ’s love for us compelled Him to come to earth. He walked with us. He wrapped Himself up in our bodies and planted His toes in our world. He saw life through eyes that were forced to squint from the sun He created. Jesus was so passionate about us. He became us just to save us. Jesus did not come to earth and suddenly decide He loved us. His love for us compelled Him to come. That compulsion for us killed Him. He is passionate about our salvation. Our salvation did not come before His passion. The Passion.

God created you. God knows how you are wired. He knows what you are made of. He gives you passions. If you know Jesus as Savior then you have Spirit led passions in your entire being, because the Holy Spirit is your entire being. Do not ever allow yourself to be fooled into thinking you are passionate about something you are not a part of. I can tell myself I am passionate about evangelism all day long. The fact is, I have not witnessed to anyone this week. I was more passionate about my family and eating than evangelism. I may want to be passionate about evangelism. If so, I need to start praying that God will compel me towards this. I will never be able to compel myself. However, before I start praying for new passions, I must look at what I am already compassionate about. I talked with some middle school girls for a while yesterday. I worked on a drama for church. I spent time with my husband and daughter. I’m passionate about family. I’m passionate about equipping believers. Maybe one of the believers God allows me to equip will be passionate about evangelism. Maybe, just maybe, our current passions are God given for reasons we don’t know.

It’s long past time to reevaluate our use of this word. Passions compel us to actions. If you do not like your current actions, you need to talk with God about your compulsions. Let’s stop pretending we will be passionate tomorrow. We are passionate today. Let’s stop acting like we all need to be passionate about the same thing. When we are truly following God, He gives us our passions based on how He carved our being. Our passions are from Him. It’s time to shred the inventory tests and put up the table and chairs. We don’t need a meeting to talk about passion. We need the author of The Passion to compel us to the actions He created us for.