You're not given passion?

I once heard somebody say, “We just aren’t passionate here!” when defending why they were leaving their church. You have to admit, that’s a slightly confusing statement. What people are really saying is “I don’t FEEL like being passionate here.”

In our Western society kind of thinking, we have this ideal that passion is something that’s supposed to be given to us. We think we have to do nothing to be passionate. But this is untrue. In reality, passion is something that we choose to have.

Everybody has talents. One of mine is writing. I like to write. But just because I like to write doesn’t mean that I am passionate about it. I have to choose to WANT to sit down everyday and write. I have to choose to enjoy it. And it goes the other way. I can be passionate about something without having a talent for it. For example, I love singing. My whole body tingles when I stand next to somebody singing very well. I feel passionate about singing, but you’ll never hear me sing outside of the church building.

Passion is something you have, and have to work to keep.

I love my girlfriend. But I wasn’t just given that love; I choose to love her everyday of my life. Otherwise, I might forget to look at her as the person I love, and I just look at her (possibly as the person I lust, instead). It’s the same for the church; you have to choose to be passionate. If you are spending time sitting on a pew and looking at all the flaws in the church body, are you going to be passionate? Hecka no. But when you’re out trying to make things better for the people around you, you maintain that passion.

Another thing you have to do to be passionate is show up. If you don’t show up to the services, you shouldn’t expect to be passionate. And don’t just show up, do something. Don’t turn things away when you’re asked to do something.

You can’t be passionate if you aren’t earning the passion.

That’s the bottom line, folks. Passion is a reward, not a gift.