We have all received them. You know, those pesky, irritating phone calls in which the caller wants you to support a candidate or cause of some kind. They always come at the most inconvenient times. Maybe you are sympathetic with the caller and maybe not, but one thing you must give credit for: the caller has a passion for his or her cause. You can tell by the excitement in the voice and by the fact that they won’t let you get off of the phone! I don’t know about the success rate for such calls, but they must prove worthwhile to some extent because they keep making them.
Such type of calls remind me that in this area we the church have somewhat lost our way from what God desires. I’m speaking of passion or zeal. Paul wrote to Titus that the Christ gave Himself “to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” Looking at the entire range of good works in the New Testament, we can see that this would include everything from feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, equipping the saints, and encouraging the weak to unceasing prayer and proclaiming the gospel. All of these should be done zealously in the name of Christ.
However, have we grown weary in doing good and fallen into a “hum drum” Christianity? A going through the motions? An “I’ll do it if I have to” mentality? Certainly nothing undercuts a Christian’s witness to the world more than a good deed done reluctantly with a sour face or a word of the gospel spoken half-heartedly without joy.
From where do zeal and passion arise? At least two primary sources: our faith and our love. Do you really believe that what you believe is really real and true? Do you absolutely love Jesus Christ with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength? If we look here first and do some soul-searching (with repentance), we might find ourselves eagerly offering help and making some “calls” on behalf of our beloved Savior.
><> Jeff
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