I just finished reading Bill Hybels book, Courageous Leadership. If you’ve never read it, do yourself a favor and pick it up here. One of my favorite lines is Hybels’ definition of vision. He says, “Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion.” I don’t know about you, but for me as a pastor, one of the things that fuels me is seeing people live with passion.
One of my favorite scriptures is the promise Jesus gives recorded in John 10:10,
The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
And yet I see so many Christ followers who seem to have lost their passion.
They are living a life that they would describe as far from abundant.
And here’s what I think we need to learn about passion.
- Passion is not a personality type.
It’s not something that some people have, and some people don’t. It’s not a spiritual gift. Sometimes passion is raising your hands during worship, but I think more often than not, passion is about the things you do when no one is looking. Passion is the single mom who drags her three kids to church every Sunday. Passion is the teenager who stays home and reads his Bible when everyone else is at the party. Passion is the couple who on the brink of divorce decide to stick it out.
- Passion is not a feeling.
Passion and excitement are too very different things. It’s easy to get them confused. If you want to tell them apart, you have to give it time. For example, one of our campuses recently moved into a permanent facility. We’re seeing a lot of new people come, a lot of people taking next steps, and our volunteers are excited to serve every week. I’ll know they’re passionate if they’re still ready to serve every week when we’re not seeing growth. The evidence of passion is perseverance.
- Passion is not passive.
How many times have you asked someone to serve and they said, let me pray about it first? Translation, I want to sound spiritual, but I don’t actually want to do anything. If you have passion in your life, someone shouldn’t have to ask you to do something you know you already should be doing. You’re going to want to serve, you’re going to want to read your Bible, you’re going to want to give. Passionate people aren’t passive.
If you’ve lost your passion, you need to get it back. Jesus tells us how in Revelation 2:5
Remember from where you have fallen, repent, and do the things you did at first.
It’s not difficult, you just have to do the things you did when you were passionate. You just have to practice it, even when you don’t feel like it because passion isn’t a feeling. It should be a way of life.
We all lose our passion from time to time, what have you done to get it back? I’d love to hear about it so leave a comment below, and don’t forget to subscribe to the blog to get tips on church growth, leadership, and more delivered to your inbox each week.
