Passion

Definition: A commitment and enthusiasm for someone or something.

This is the original definition for passion as a friend and i would define it. But i think that when looking into Christian ministry the definition needs to change slightly:

Definition: A commitment and enthusiasm for someone shown through something.

This definition for passion stems from a discussion we had on a leadership retreat when looking for what it meant to have a passion for the group we are leaders in. I think that there is a lot of things that can be brought out of this quote. I think that first it can be seen that neither commitment or enthusiasm is enough on its own. Both are great but with only one, whats the point. I think one of the things that i have felt when reflecting on ministry from the Bible is the idea of joyful sacrifice. (This also touches on the idea of giving and tithing found in Matthew). Commitment will engender sacrifice but it is a worthless offering to God if it is not from your heart with joy and enthusiam. The most marked change between the two definitions comes now though in the next part. Here you see that the sentence has been significantly changed. I think this came about from our realization that action is always secondary to people. But then when we started to look at the who, it also brought to light that the only appropriate who was one person: God. When looking at the practicalities, sure, you can put others into that sentence as individual ministries focus as such, but i think that it is an important realization that all ministries need to come back to. The focus of any of our passions should always be God. Not the actions we do, not the people we meet. All these will at times tire us, at times fustrate us, and at times our passion for them will seem to die. That is when we must return to the realization that our passion is centered on God. God can ignite any passion. What we are doing should always and only be a reflection of our passion for God. We commit to something, because it is our way of serving God, of sacrificing ourselfishness for Him, we are enthusiastic about something because we know that God is enthusiastic about it, that it is building into God's kingdom. And so passion must always stem from the someone, which is why personal time to grow your own faith must be put at the top of any list of priorities above any ministries that people get involved in. Because your passion for that ministry needs to stem from your passion for God which stems from your growing relationship with Him.