I was sitting in the hall at Hughes Hall waiting for my piano class to start. I will admit I had my briefcase there full of my books. I had my wire-rimmed glasses and I did look like a geek. I wasn’t wearing high-waters, but I fit the rest of the stereotype. I was sitting there minding my business, when this very attractive young lady sat down next to me and starting talking to me. I will admit that at first I was nervous, very nervous. Many of you may not believe this, but I was shy and kind of kept to myself. She was a level ahead of me in the piano class and sat in the back of the class. I sat on the second row, mainly because I struggled in class. She told me that day, “I noticed something about you, and you aren’t rowdy enough in class.” That was who the Lord brought into my life to be my wife. After that day, we became very good friends and had a great relationship. I remember that when we started dating, I became very passionate about wanting to spend as much time as possible to be with her. When I knew that we were going to be married I couldn’t wait for that day to come. I looked forward to that day with great anticipation and great excitement. Everyone I talked to, I talked about Dawn. I talked about what we did. Where we went. How she made me laugh. How she made me feel. How wonderful she was. I’m sure that my friends got tired of hearing me talk about her, but I just couldn’t help it. I was so in love with her, actually I’m more in love with her now then I was then and I still love talking about her whenever I get the chance because she is amazing. I’m still passionate about her.
As I was thinking about that word “passionate” this past week, I started thinking about the church. Have we lost our passion for the Lord? Have we become complacent in our worship and our relationship? Are we ‘being’ the church and not ‘doing’ church? When we just start going through the motions of some boring religious ritual or obligation, even if we have great music and great screens and great technology. When we stop ‘being’ the church of Jesus and then being engaged in what Jesus is passionate about, then you know what, we become a dead empty monument. We need to ensure that our heart beats for the same thing that God’s heart beats for, and that is for a lost and broken world. In Matthew Jesus tells us that He came to seek and save the lost. God is consumed with the lost. We ought to be passionate for what He is passionate about. Passion is really the seedbed of reaching a lost and a dying world. We ought to be passionate. You know if you are still passionate about your relationship with God and about your Christian life when you are not just going through the motions, because you do what you want out of passion, but you just do what you have to when it is an obligation.
We do what we have a passion for…I had a passion for Dawn and made a way to be with her, and still do. I will arrange my schedule to be with her if I know that she is off of work and home. No one has to make you read the Bible. No one has to make you go to church. No one has to make you tithe. No one has to make you passionately be involved with a lost and a broken world. What gives you passion? Passion comes out of your love relationship with God. It is just what you do. You would do anything for those you love. You would do anything for the things that you love. The question comes down, how much do you love God? As a believer, He should be first on the list. It is just what you do. No one has to make you. It is not a boring religious obligation.
The greatest thing about serving Christ, the greatest thing about serving the Lord and being with Him is that He wants to be with us. We have the choice. We get to do it. It’s not an obligation; it’s a get to opportunity. Who wouldn’t want to spend time with the God of this universe? Who wouldn’t want to spend time picking the brain of the God of this universe? Who wouldn’t want to come into a place and be with His people, singing songs that He gave people that He created and gifted, listening to men and women share His Word that He gave to us to learn how to live an awesome life, which by the way is all about how He wants to be with us for all eternity? What a deal!!!! I don’t know about you, but that sparks a fire inside of me that makes me want to shout it from the mountaintops to the whole world. There is a God who loves them and wants to be with them.
I personally believe that if we get this fire back, if we get this “passion” back, if we stop “being” church and start “doing” church, that we’ll see the power of God back in the Church today. However, it all starts with YOU!!! You have to allow Him to move in you. You have to allow Him loose in your life. You have to have the passion for Him and then want to salt the world with that passion. Will YOU? He’s calling. He’s longing. That’s our privilege. We get to do this. Let’s do it together. Let’s put the passion back into compassion.
Until next time,
Pastor Rob
