Recently
I listened to a group of Christians introducing themselves, and was fascinated
by something they did – they declared their unique passions for ministry. One said, “my passion is youth ministry,” another
said, “my passion is adult education,” or “my passion is caring for the
homeless,” or “my passion is music ministry.”
No one in the group declared the same passion as anyone else.
How inspiring
it might be to hear an entire congregation (St Marks?) declare their passions! Perhaps this would profoundly reveal how God is
working among us, for our passions reveal our vocations – our calling into
ministry by God. The reason why we
become passionate about a particular ministry is often because God is touching
our hearts, our inner selves, in unique ways.
God wires us to care and act
in specific and particular ways, and that’s why we’re passionate about it.
However,
there are two ways in which we often block out God’s calling in our lives:
1) We’re
passionate about something, but something else diverts us.
2) We’re
passionate about something, but we commit the universal blunder.
Sometimes
we fail to act on our passions because something else consumes our time and energy.
Things that can divert us from the way God has uniquely wired us for
ministry are often good things: Imagine
if Moses had failed to lead his people out of slavery because he was too busy
leading a home Bible study or teaching Sunday School. Imagine if Jesus had failed to face the cross
because he was too focused on healing the sick or feeding the hungry. Good things, important things, but not the particular
thing to which one is called may divert us from God’s call just as certainly as
evil or trivial things. What are you
uniquely passionate about? The question
is not whether something else is
worth doing, the question is what is God calling YOU to do. Go for it!
At other times
we fail to act on our passions because of the universal blunder -- when somebody universalizes their
passion. In one version of this, somebody
assumes their particular passion should be yours too, and pressures you into
supporting it. God’s calling to you is
blocked. In another version, somebody
assumes their passion should be everybody’s passion, and becomes resentful when
others don’t share it. They feel
rejected and marginalized, and often withdraw.
God’s calling to them is
blocked. They give up on their passion
because their attempt to universalize it is frustrated.
The Lord be with you – as
you discover and pursue your unique passion and vocation!