This blog post has been revised and turned into a chapter in The Rethinking Series.
The series includes each book in PDF, Kindle, and Nook formats.
Click here to view the Table of Contents for each book and how to get it
About Frank Viola
Frank Viola is a best-selling author, blogger, speaker, and consultant to authors and writers. His mission is to help serious followers of Jesus know their Lord more deeply so they can experience real transformation and make a lasting impact. To learn more about Frank and his work, go to 15+ Years of Projects. To invite Frank to speak at your event, go to his Speaking Page. Due to a new problem with persistent spam that we haven’t figured out how to control, comments are closed for the present time. To contact Frank, use the “Contact” page in the top menu.
I was once told that, ‘we know you are passionate about Christ, but we are not like that’ I actually felt sad for i thought that all who are call by the name of Christ, should have some king of passion about Him yet it was not so about this group of Christians that i met, but i continue to be passionate about my Lord and King Jesus Christ.
Thank for the encouragement Love always.
If we are not passionate about Jesus Christ then we should examine ourselves. 2 Corinthians 13:5
I was reading your piece on writing mistakes, where you mentioned exclamation marks. It made me laugh and look for the On Being Italian piece (which I found btw).
I’m not 100% Italian, but I have enough in me to relate! My grandfather is 100% and he is fascinating to watch. I always thought my love for emphasis, exclamation marks, and frequent hand gestures came from being deaf. Our communication requires a lot of emphasis.
But I guess I’m doomed. I’m both Italian and deaf. 😉 I agree, btw. Passion is a great thing to have, especially passion for Christ.
Our passion for the Lord Jesus is realted to my expecttions of the Lord Jesus.
In my opinion, people’s perceiptions of Jesus are limted to be the “forgiver of their sin”. There is very little efford to acknowledge the Lord as alive and present in everyday life. Galatians 6:4 “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
Amen to that. When we worship, in church , at home, at work, where ever, we need to be full of passion. We get that way about football, why not about Jesus
I agree with this post Frank . . . I have said to others that the world outside our church walls is not much interested in what goes on inside those walls because we are not much interested either. We are in love with ourselves, our buildings, programs, creeds, organizations and we’ll give inordinate amounts of time to all that we can manage and control with our own imaginations. But we won’t pray . . . we don’t know the heart of God . . . if we did, passion would be be a non-issue.
I think passion for HIm is a gift, because we love HIm because He first loved us. If we knew how passionate He is about us (He invented passion) we would respond. Listening to Frank’s series on The Forgotten Woman is reminding me of this. And the kind of extravagance of David’s men getting him that cup of water from the Bethlehem well.
Makes me also think of com-passion for others.
awesome!
Why is it that some churches and church leaders are willing to offend gays, illegal immigrants and “liberals” in the name of conservatism, but are hesitant to be too passionate or zealous about the Gospel of Jesus Christ lest they offend the atheist, muslim, Morman or other non-Christian conservatives in the neighborhood? Are we looking to spread the Gospel or gain votes for the political process? Just wondering about our screwed up priorities.
“But … if it’s preaching and teaching that reveals, unveils, exalts, magnifies the Lord Jesus Christ in power, reality, and with passion, then that very often is the tool that God uses to open hearts and inflame hearts”
love that.
Erin, you make a good argument – however, when you state that, “Passion is an all or nothing can’t live without it gimme more mentality that grows inside of you and lights you up. but more importantly, its a God given gift.”, the context of 1 Cor 12:1-11 and Gal 5:22-23 is misquoted. Christians easily mistake passions for gifts from God, but truly there are only two areas where we have gifts. Spirituals Gifts, as seen in 1 Cor 12:1-11 (which are very specific, and these are gifts from God placed in us to work for Him), and then there are Fruits of the Spirit – by which the work of the Holy Spirit alive in us produces, as seen in Gal 5:22-23 (which again are specific, and are directly related to the work of the Holy Spirit – working in and through us). The area where I agree with you on is the former part being that passion is, “an all or nothing can’t live without it gimme more mentality that grows inside of you and lights you up.” Through a relationship we develop, and deepen, with Christ will bring us to this kind of passionate living – outwardly. We should always, as Christians, be so passionate about God – so much that it is an all or nothing, can’t live without Him – and can’t live without sharing Him with others – kind of life. Something bring very much missed – especially in our American culture today; and our world today (as Frank has pointed out). 🙂
i don’t know that i agree that more teaching and preaching equals more passion. or even that passion can be taught. Besides Jesus, my passion is nutrition, and as excited as i am about food and health, my kids still look at me like i’m nuts regardless of how much i teach them about it (some of my clients as well) ;). does that make sense? Passion is an all or nothing can’t live without it gimme more mentality that grows inside of you and lights you up. but more importantly, its a God given gift. we have it because He has it.
but it’s easier to be passionate about football. that way you’re not freaky. 😛
Preaching and teaching in itself does NOT produce passion or hunger or revelation, or any such thing. But … if it’s preaching and teaching that reveals, unveils, exalts, magnifies the Lord Jesus Christ in power, reality, and with passion, then that very often is the tool that God uses to open hearts and inflame hearts (see 1 Cor. 1 for instance). That’s what I’ve been observing over the years on the ground anyway. The problem is that so often preaching and teaching today does nothing of the kind because it reveals so little of Christ in power and reality.
Regarding the sentence “I think the church of Jesus Christ is dying for lack of passion.”
I wonder if the church of Jesus Christ can truly die.
Regarding the passion, I also wonder if someone truly belongs to Jesus Christ and has no passion about Him. The Lord once said “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If someone is passioned about football but has no passion about Jesus, does he really belong to Him? I’m not passing a judgement here, I’m just wondering myself and have doubts about someone full of passion for whatever there is in this world, and feeling little for Christ.
Isn’t it time to return to the true Gospel? Right now, being a Christian is resumed to repeating a prayer said by a preacher. Is that meeting Christ?? Or is it just a shadow of what used to be His disciple, His brother, His Father’s son? I also wonder if this diluted Christianity is working for Christ or against Him. It seems to me that it is more against than for Him.
Abel, I don’t think she can die. But she surely can get weak and sick even. Hence the metaphor.
A brother and I were discussing this very topic yesterday. We thought that the lack of energetic-ness (i.e. lukewarmness) comes from (in-part) our luxurious American culture. So many Christians have never walked through true a “dark night of the soul” and therefore not experienced the Dayspring causing a whole new light in their life.
Energetic love for our Lord stems from deep gratefulness for His deliverances in our lives. And so much of American Christianity is riskless and sanitized and over-spiritualized, that many have not been in a situation where they have “despaired, even of life”, called on the name of the Lord, and experienced Him answer & deliver (Psalm 55).
As for why lukewarm Christians get upset by energetic ones…well, the darkness in them hates the light in you. Flesh wars against the spirit…
Be energetic anyway!
I totally agree with you, Frank. Namely on the front of politics than anything else lately, because that is what I am experiencing more and more recently. It really is unfortunate (for God’s sake, not ours) that so many find it valid, “in the name of God”, to spend more time in political activism (or relishing even in sports – those who do), than spending time in fervent prayer (developing the very relationship God created for us). The actions of others lately has been a constant reminder, and conviction, to me personally to just keep going down the passionate journey I am on with Him, sharing that passion with compassion (even though some may not see it as such at times) – and while I will hit a few speed bumps down and again, that my relationship with Him will not be tarnished like it was not so long ago.
Thank you for the clarification, Frank. I do appreciate it.
~ I believe, Frank, that the majority of Christians don’t realize how passionate God is towards them. God’s heart so longs to be intimate with us and It is hard for many Christians to grasp that…
Such was the case with me, at least…It is a most wonderful topic. I pray you might pursue it further with your dear readers…sorry I missed the discussion last week.
I love Rich’s comment. For some, tho, the Lord has to take them even further than beyond seeing how glorious He is. ( Wow! Did she say that!?) They have to realize that He truly longs for them with a deep passion ~set me as a seal upon thy heart~ He would woo us with…
Rebekah, my book “From Eternity to Here” was retitled from “God’s Ultimate Passion,” and speaks to this point as well.
Frank, referring to your statement, ““Some Christians get euphorically passionate about a football game, but then wince when someone gets just as passionate about Jesus Christ.” – do you think this can also happen with other believers? I have noticed lately in my own life that when someone begins to walk out the passion they have for Christ, even with other believers, these other believers actually are getting upset, angry, offended, and begin to label that person in a very negative light.
Marni, yes, that’s precisely what I had in mind. Some Christians wincing when other Christians become passionate about the Lord. Yet those same people will become passionate about sports or politics. But when it comes to Jesus Christ, everything becomes quiet and subdued for it be acceptable.
Marni, I dont think people understand what Passion is….and how to positively respond to a person being passionate about anything for that matter. In short, we lack the ability to “inspire each other in good works”.
I’m 20% Welsh, which is more than enough! And I feel the same. I love soccer and am passionate about my team. I can also calmly and confidently talk about football (sorry, soccer!) with knowledgeable people, without passion. I think it has to be the same with Jesus. Passion, excitement, joy, enthusiasm – Yeah! But also calmly and in a collected way, discuss Him with those who would know Him better. I guess the passion will always come through, though. It goes with the territory!
“If our eyes have been opened and our hearts have been awakened to see just how glorious our Lord Jesus is, we cannot help but become passionate about Him. He is the most amazing, exciting, and fascinating Person in the universe.”
It seems like there is so little teaching and preaching that would really help us to accomplish the above- I suspect if there was more of that kind of teaching and preaching- the passion would naturally follow.
Rich, bingo. There is very little such preaching today. That’s the problem. http://frankviola.wordpress.com/2009/10/07/deep-ecclesiology/
Amen Frank! In Luke 22, Acts 18, Romans 12, James 5, & 1Peter 4 we see positive examples of our Lord and some disciples having [FERVENT] – desire, spirit, teaching/speaking, and love. In the James 5 account, [fervency] was a key ingredient for a prayer that “avails much”.
A good translation of [fervent] is “ENERGETIC”. Yes Lord!, may we be stirred-up in spirit to live boldly & energetically!
I agree that far too many people wince at those that are passionate about Jesus. Myself included for far too long. However, I am gratefully having my eyes opened and my heart awakened.