Passion is Not for Wimps

Ray A. Seilhamer
Bishop, 1993-2001

October 1994

About a year ago, I was in Chicago when Michael Jordan announced that he was retiring from basketball. One of the reasons he gave was, "I have lost my passion for the game."

Passion is an intense emotion that pushes you forward, demanding action. The tragedy is that a person can lose passion.

I am convinced that the contemporary church is led by people who have lost their passion for Christ. Too many of us have become enmeshed in apathy, which says, "I don't need to put forth much effort...I don't need to pay a price...I don't need to work hard...I don't need to sacrifice...I don't need to be enthusiastic...I don't need to take risks or invest in new ideas...."

This contrasts drastically with what I see in the New Testament. Jesus worked long hours, he wept for the lost, he anguished over the city of Jerusalem, he was moved by the brokenness of people. He cared deeply, and he acted.

Anyone who ministers for Christ will encounter obstacles. Passion is what keeps driving you forward, no matter what obstacles you encounter. The Apostle Paul met barriers, hardship, and persecution around every corner. He was beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, imprisoned. But did he crawl into a corner and cry, "Enough!" No way. His passion drove him onward, convinced that what he was doing was right, and that obstacles were just part of the job.

We have become a nation of wimps.

Do you complain because you didn't get an extra $100 raise? Or because you didn't get the vacation you thought was coming? Or because you couldn't afford a new car this year? Or because you weren't asked to teach Sunday school this quarter?

Such "hardships" trivialize the price Jesus paid on Mount Calvary.

Your passion will set you apart from others. The gifted athlete who lacks passion for the game will be left behind by the less-talented athlete whose passion compels him to work hard, train, and give 100%. It's the same way with musicians, businessmen, teachers, and others. And it's the same way with Christians. I've met people--personable, good-looking, successful, talented people--who never accomplish much for the Lord, because they don't burn with passion for the Lord's work. And I've met--and you've met--people who live with many limitations, but in whom the power of God moves mightily. Their passion sets them apart. Your passion wields more influence than your personality and abilities.

It has been my observation that too many of us have lost our passion for ministry. Leaders in our churches are lackadaisical about spiritual growth and winning the lost. For many pastors, the call to the ministry is a call to laziness. Too many of pastors stopped pastoring a long time ago, and are just coasting to retirement. Among the laity, there is an attitude which says, "I'll be there if nothing else happens." And people have become altogether casual about sin, permitting it to live in the church body--individuals living in sinful sexual relationships, or "upstanding" church members who bicker at fight.

The number of conversions has dropped, and you don't see the fervor of past years which compelled people to tell their friends, neighbors, and relatives about Christ. For al practical purposes, we've stopped believing in hell. Because if we truly believed that people who don't know Christ will spend an eternity of anguish burning in hell, we would do everything we can to lead them to Christ. Think of some of the nonChristians in your life. Right now, they are bound for the fires of hell. Do you take that seriously?

Too many of our churches are simply dead. They have lost their reason for being, and are just "playing church" from one week to the next, compelled by habit rather than by passion. The morning service, Sunday school, midweek prayer meeting, missions groups, and other ministries may operate no differently than they did 20 or 30 years ago. It's like Rip Van Winkle waking up after decades of snoozing and finding that nothing had changed. Churches often don't have the foggiest idea of what contemporary ministry is all about--what is effective today, how today's people think and respond. And what's more, they lack the passion which would cause them to care enough to become effective. In some churches you'll find people who still resist using an overhead, considering it a worldly device.

God wants us to be people of faith. People who are obedient to His Word. People who change lives. People who are enthusiastic. People who can't rest easy knowing that others are going to hell. People of passion.

Socrates supposedly met a young man who said, "I want to be a great learner of knowledge, like you." Socrates took him down to a lake and they waded into the water. Suddenly, Socrates grabbed the fellow by the hair and thrust his head under the water. When he finally let the man up, he asked, "What was it you wanted?"

"I want knowledge!" the man said.

Socrates dunked him again, this time a little longer.

"What do you want?"

"I want knowledge!"

He pushed his head into the water a third time, and this time held him under until he was thrashing in desperation.

"What did you say you want?" Socrates asked again.

"I want air!" the young man cried.

Socrates told him, "When you want knowledge like you now want air, you will find knowledge."

I don't know if that story ever actually happened, but it makes the point well.