Words Mean Things

How many times have you heard a church talk about making passionate disciples (or followers) of Christ?  I bet if you surveyed a number of church websites, you may find that phrase quite a bit. 

Memorial Day is a reminder to me of what these words really mean.  In particular – the word passionate.

When you hear "passionate", what do you think of?  Excitement?  Enthusiasm?  Maybe even a little bit of craziness?  Actually, passion comes from the Greek word pathos (πάθος).  It means...to suffer.  It's a willingness to endure pain and suffering.  That's a whole lot different than excitement, enthusiasm and craziness.

Those of us, who live in the West, have a pretty cushy life.  As a matter of fact, our church even hired a pastor who is cushy(ing).  Sorry - couldn't resist.  

On Memorial Day, when we think of the service men and women of our country, I think it's safe to say they had a passion for the United States.  Many of them have suffered.  Many of them have given their lives.  If you are one of those people (or a parent or spouse of one) and are reading these words -- Thank You!  Words are a weak response to what we really owe you.

But back to being a passionate disciple/follower.  Being a passionate disciple is not someone who shows up to church every Sunday without fail.  It's not the one who sings loud and raises their hands in praise.  It's not someone who gives 10% or even more in the offering bag.  None of those are wrong, but now that we've looked at what passionate really means, what is it?

Here's an example from the Bible.  One of the disciples, the one who is tagged as "Doubting Thomas", was actually quite passionate.  Here's the situation -- Jesus is well into His ministry and yet many Jews are questioning Him.  As a matter of fact, they are more than questioning Him.  They are quite hostile.  In John 10, there is a confrontation between Jesus and some unbelieving Jews.  In verse 31 they pick up rocks to stone Him.  (It says "again".  Apparently, this is a somewhat regular occurrence in Jesus' ministry.  Probably pretty fun to a disciple of Jesus, huh?)  But somehow or other, Jesus escapes the situation and goes to safety on the other side of the Jordan River.

A very short time later, in chapter 11, Lazarus, a good friend of Jesus, dies.  Before he dies, his sisters send for Jesus.  They want Him to come and heal Lazarus.  They want Jesus to come back to the part of the country where the people want to stone Him.  Do you think the disciples maybe suggested sending a Get Well card instead?  I wouldn't think they were too anxious to head back to that region.  Would you?

But check out "Doubting Thomas".  Read verse 16 in chapter 11.  Thomas says, "Let us go also, that we may die with Him."  Wow.  Now that is a passionate disciple!  His life is not his own.

When you now hear the term "passionate", what will you think of?  Emotions or excitement?  For me, it’s easy to get emotional.  Music, a powerful story etc. can get me emotional fairly easily.  But passionate?  For me, it's a gut-check. 

I am thankful for soldiers passionate enough to give their lives.  Most of the disciples, in their passion, gave their lives as martyrs.  But there is One whose passion really means something.  Only One whose passion makes an eternal difference.  Long before Mel Gibson made his movie, the church fathers coined the phrase, The Passion of the Christ.

So today, join me in offering a Soli Deo Gloria to the One who is passionate for you and me.

Pray For Who?!

Last fall Pastor Brett taught on a series on reconciliation.  Shortly after that, I came across a passage in the Bible that just jumped out at me.

I'm sure everyone is somewhat familiar with the story of Job.  As he lost his family, wealth and then health, his infamous three friends enter the story.  Actually, we don't realize that they start out pretty well.  Job 2 says they joined him for seven days without even saying a word.  There's something to be learned right there!  So often, we're eager to throw a Bible verse at someone and go on our merry way when they just need someone to sit with them.  They need our time.  Something most of us are hesitant to give up.  But I digress, that is not the point of this post.

Fast forward to chapter 42.  You know how Job's "friends" blistered him all through the first part of the book.  Job didn't take it.  He dished it right back.  As far as Christian fellowship goes -- I think it is safe to say it got pretty ugly.

But God reprimands the 3 "friends" and tells them to offer a sacrifice of seven bulls and seven rams. (I'm sure there's something symbolic about "seven".)  Then, after that,  God tells Job to pray for his friends so that God will not deal with their folly as He really should.

Do you think Job had a hard time with that?  Would you?  I'm afraid I would.  I don't know what the time frame was from chapter 2 to chapter 42.  I'm guessing it seemed like an eternity to Job.  But now after all the accusations hurled at him, he is now asked to pray for his accusers!  Do you think he asked God if He was kidding?  Do you think he hesitated?  Do you think he kind of looked at the ground and kicked a stone?  The Bible doesn't tell us.  However, we are told that Job does pray for his friends.  And then what happens?  Everything is restored  to Job -- twice as much as he had before.

I'm certainly not saying God will always bless in this way.  But I do think there is a lesson to learn here.

The week following the death (suicide) of Pastor Rick Warren's son, he tweeted this.
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Rick Warren (@RickWarren)   4/11/13 2:44 PM

Someone on the internet sold Matthew an unregistered gun. I pray he seeks God's forgiveness. I forgive him. #MATTHEW 6:15

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Reconciliation and forgiveness is not easy.  But Jesus doesn't call us to easy.  Matthew 5:43-48 challenges us with some good -- though tough -- commands.  Jesus doesn't tell us to do this so that we can receive a blessing.  We are to do this for the cause of Christ.  For His name.

And we can't do this on our own.  We can only do this through the power of the Spirit and a changed heart.

SDG