Something Passionate

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Permalink Reply by Mark Juane on November 16, 2008 at 11:29pm

A quote that really gets my passion flowing comes from Bob Briner's book "Roaring Lambs." Actually, the whole book ignites me:

What I'm calling for is a radically different way of thinking about our world. Instead of running from it, we need to rush into it. And instead of just hanging around the fringes of our culture, we need to be right smack dab in the middle of it.

A scripture that gets my passion flowing is Acts 2:17...

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

This verse tells me that one of the first things that the Spirit does in our lives is to restore our ability to dream. Woohoo!

And I have to say that the one experience that gets my passions flowing is walking along the beach in Edmonds, Washington with my wife. Mmm...the lapping waves, smell of seawater, light breeze off the water, surrounded by mountains!!!!!! It doesn't get any better than that!

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Permalink Reply by terry timm on November 17, 2008 at 12:17pm

the Scripture that ignites my passions is ephesians 3:20: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...

this reminds me that i cannot out dream God and it invites me to let my imagination run freely and boldly.

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Permalink Reply by Nicolas Nelson on November 17, 2008 at 1:18pm

My life verse helps a lot. (full disclosure: to my shame, it's been at least a year since I last read or recited this-- tho I can still do so verbatim from memory) It's Philippians 3:7-14...

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

After stepping slowly through the first part, and stopping for a reality check on "Not that I have already obtained all this...", the "I press on" parts are like a launch pad for me, emotionally and actually.

So: gotta run! ;-)
(Alex, thanks for the question-- this had been a difficult and draining morning, I'm refreshed now already!)

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Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Baines on November 17, 2008 at 4:00pm

Oh, there are so many, so here's something I was stirred by today, from Seth Godin ('Tribes'): 'How was your day? If your answer is "fine" then I don't think you were leading.' He continues with the question: 'How can I create something that critics will criticize?' I like that kind of questioning ... a lot.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Marsden on November 18, 2008 at 9:47am

I haven't stopped and deliberately thought about this in a while, so thanks for the pause to do so.

In college a friend and I ran a mobile coffee house experience. We went out to churches and youth ministries and transformed their space into a 90's era "hip" coffee shop. The verse that drove us:

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Col. 3:17 (paraphrased from memory).

So many of our classmates were going out and speaking or preaching or playing in a band. Very normal and acceptable ministry options. We were out making coffee. Anyways...

Again, I haven't thought about this in a long while, but one of the quotes that came out of the 2007 Humana (that I did not attend but heard so much about which lead to my current vocational choices and IMN/Vox involvement):

"What are you doing that demands an explanation."

I think passion lacks in the church (at least it did for me) because the things we are doing don't remotely demand an explanation. We are doing what is expected. We are in a different building with a different number of people, maybe our programs are cooler, but what we are doing is the same thing as the church down the road. We don't have to explain it, because they already understand and expect it.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Juane on November 18, 2008 at 11:17am

Chris, thanks for this...I mean it! Our own movement has been having somewhat of an identity crisis and this question from H2.07 that you quoted put some pieces in place. How liberating! How passionately catalytic! Did I say...THANKS?

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Permalink Reply by Chris Marsden on November 18, 2008 at 12:23pm

I felt the same way when I first heard it and bringing it up again here is a breath of fresh air. I don't want to be "the best" at what everyone else is doing, I want to do things that people stop and wonder about (in a good way, of course).

Are you coming to the Human Event this year, Mark?

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Permalink Reply by Mark Juane on November 18, 2008 at 12:28pm

Absolutely! Looking forward to it big time.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Juane on November 20, 2008 at 11:59am

I think that one of the reasons that there is a lack of passion in the church is that, for the most part, there is a lack of inspiring leadership that marshals all the latent creativity and power in the church to a seriously cool Cause.

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Permalink Reply by Chris Marsden on November 20, 2008 at 2:13pm

I think we are on the right track here. Leadership is key, but it is not a lack of inspirational leaders (think TV evangelist) and it is not a lack of cool (just about every church planter I know is some form of cool), and I'll even argue against biblical (many of those "man-made" rules and procedures are biblical precepts that are badly applied).

We need leadership that doesn't point to itself or it's cause but points to Christ and His mission of Love. Creativity should be a part of it and a "relevant", contextualized mission (cause) should be a part of it. For some, the context of "church" will be a part of it, but we can't/shouldn't limit ourselves to this. The church coops too much and kills the passions of people who were already on the mission of Jesus.

We need leaders who will inspire people, point them to Christ and His mission, and get out of the way, releasing those people to the guidance of scripture and the Holy Spirit. We have to quit being managers and start being leaders.

[disclaimer: when I say we, I mostly mean I. But if it applies to you and your context, feel free to own it]

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Permalink Reply by Mark Juane on November 20, 2008 at 3:08pm

Chris, I totally agree that "we" have to "quit being managers and start being leaders."

I think the reason so much creativity and power in the church is uninspired is because they are mostly over-managed and under-led.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Juane on November 20, 2008 at 3:04pm

Inauthentic, irrelevant, and unBiblical leadership is UN-inspiring, don't you think?

I guess I'm using the word "inspiring" to include all of what you mentioned and more.

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