i have a topic for discussion, and i would really appreciate hearing from both of my regular readers.
it seems to me that there are a lot of christians being christians (i.e.: going to church, carrying their bibles, doing other christian-type things), but very few christians being passionate followers of jesus (i.e.: cultivating mentoring relationships, living lifestyles of worship, being sacrificial). so here are my questions:
1. why do you think that is?
2. what can we as the church do about it?
3. is there something that i as a church leader can do to facilitate passion?
thanks for your input, friends, i am really grateful.
by the way, here is a picture of my christmas present.
your best life later 
Perhaps some of that passion is there; it just may not be overt.
It does not take very many that truely have the passion to take up the very radical message of Jesus. Even just one or two can effect profound change.
For example, there is a story of a man that was badly beaten in a race riot and was taken in by a Christian missionary and was given a Bible to read while recovering. When he recovered, he returned the Bible to the missionary and said I want to live my life like the man in Matthew chapter 5 and he did.
His name was Gandi. You could say he was a passionate follower of Jesus although he continued to practice his native Hindu.
I think you can lead with passion, but I’m not sure you can facilitate it. It has to come from deep down on the inside of someone.
I also think that passion for most anything can be used to honor God. It seems that many “church” people think if their passion is not prayer, music, preaching or Bible reading then somehow their passion is not Godly.
I would love to see more believers use their passion for the law, for business, for innovation to further God’s Kingdom.
My firm belief (mostly through personal experience and observation) is that most people lack passion because they have walked away from what they WERE passionate about to try to be passionate about what others said they SHOULD be passionate about.
1. why do you think that is?
I HAVE to get out of the mentality that my “passionate” relationship with Jesus must not fall into the category of one more thing that has to be tended to. It has to go beyond that and to be honest that is when I struggle. It isn’t a lack of desire for the “passionate relationship” but it comes down to…..balance….and lazieness. I can’t manage to balance the things in my life and I feel like I sit at a constant stage of mediocrity. Which currently scares me. I feel like a slacker in all areas.
2. what can we as the church do about it?
The church can’t do a thing about it. We have found a “normal” church and have been attending there for about a month. And it has been serving up some really great food, but it has not managed to motivate me off of my big butt longer than 1:00pm on Sunday afternoon. I work with addicts and getting them to change their habbits it is like trying to move a 1000 lb stubborn mule. It’s impossible…unless it’s their idea. It has to be my idea and me who does it.
3. is there something that i as a church leader can do to facilitate passion?
I think that all you can do it to let your passion show. Fire can ignite other fire and enough of it will burn hotter than anything else. I get stoked when I see someone seriously in love with Jesus. It encourages me and helps me take a gander at my own life and examine my paths, choices, and future.
You are doing an AMAZING job Randy!!!!!!
First off I do not know this is just my ramblings on the matter. If I wander due to ADD … sorry.
1. why do you think that is?
Maybe I’m coming about it wrong or to traditional being raised in a Lutheran church as a kid with doctrine and the 5 solas beat into my head but I feel most Christians simply do not know the doctrines of the Bible. I had a convesation with my brother in law (a youth pastor) two days ago. I made a comment how I know many Christians kids that are coming out of Bible colleges today with no real understanding of basic Biblical doctrine. He promptly responded in an almost scolding voice “it’s about Jesus being in your heart and changing your life,” which I agree with 100%. Although I had a friend of mine ask a question of me that has stuck with me for years now. “What’s more important doctrine or following Jesus ?” It is kinda one in the same but my first response to myself was to follow Jesus but if I do not know the doctrine written down in the black and white of the Bible can I be sure I am following Jesus correctly? Would I follow? There are many TV pastors and some authors that teach a very unbalanced theology which I question if most Christian cath it. I had a friend ask specific questions about a TV pastor and as pointed out some Biblical errors in this TV evangelists theology may friend was shocked. My freind is not a new Christian. I’m not smarter than he is by no means maybe just more boring than he. But I see Christians who “know” it is in the Bible but can’t say where or why and it is just because. How does one let his light shine if he can’t find it?
2. what can we as the church do about it?
Submit to God. It is easier said than done… for me any way. The Bible instucts us not to worry about tommorow. Adding tommorow makes our problems bigger. We should deal with today only and tommorow when it comes. We can’t build our caracture in one day. iIt would be to great a task in a one shot scenerio. We need to make this one decision to live for God here & now and the next one later when the oportuinty arrives and over time we build a caracture. We do not pay off our debt with one check. It is to hard. We start with the five dollars in our pocket and add to it tommorow another five or ten dollars. We need to change the Church and fix its problems. So why do we take it as a one package deal? We often expect to tackle this massive issue head on alone. We lose steam and falter. It starts with us not the entire Church. We all,as belivers in Christ, are a part of the body or church. Some times I think we go, I do any way, about our lives as if our descisions and attitudes affect only us. This while making futile attempts to change “the church” as if it is a problem external from us. We are all interconected in ways we do not even see in most cases. We can be healers to the body or cancer. Why can’t I or you be the next Luther, Calvin, Edwards or Ghram? I do not think they ever intended to change the Church and in turn the world but just started with themselves and God and making sure there doctrine was right in a right relationship with God. To become less is what to do but how?
3. is there something that i as a church leader can do to facilitate passion?
Some time back when Web was still here in Ok and attending church where I do Web was ALLWAYS saying “scripture is sufficien” and reciting the 5 solas in sunday school class. Well that spured me to start studing basic Biblical doctrines again. Also I started listing to pastor/author John McCarthur and another pastor named Allister Beggs on the way to work in the mornings. Web and these radio broadcasts teach the hard truths of the Bible or simply doctrine. The Bible is offensive. We all have a sinful nature it offends. While we need to show compasion have we closed out portions of the Bible to do so? I do not know. If so is it really compasion to close out the portions of Bible to soften it impact? Again I do not know. As I said in the begining maybe I’m coming about it wrong but I feel the pendelum has swung to the far side of accomidation or seeker friendly churches in attempt to get away form the stereo typical “you can’t go to the movies, wear makeup, and wear jeans”Church. Which this leads back to question 1 and 2 again. Do we know our doctrine I mean really know it. Can we defend it against the most liberal college proffesor? Because if we do I think we will truly believe it, live it, and the pendelum will center. Present the pure 100% unadulterated truth in compassion to facillitate passion… what else can a pastor do? Anything else you run the risk of taking the Holy Spirit’s place.