The Passion

“Missionaries for Him”, that is the main theme of our YWOP. Today, we

will look and discover one of the main essences, which is needed in being a

missionary for our Father… of course to be the best for Him for He deserves the

best.

“Passion”. This is the key word for today’s sharing. According to the

Longman’s Dictionary, “passion” is defined as a very strong belief/ feeling about

something. In other words, it means that, when we have the passion/ being

passionate about something, it means that we truly or 100% believe in the thing

that we are in to.

Are you passionate about something? I believe that each and every one of

us here have something that we really liked/ interested in, right? Now, in the

Bible, the apostles were definitely passionate about what they are doing. They

are PASSIONATE ABOUT PEOPLE. Paul is a model of such incredibly

passionate life. He takes upon himself abuse, beatings, long & hard travels, and

a life of poverty because he is passionate about people he has never met.

Eventually, he dies as a martyr; proving to us that his passion for people is way

bigger that life itself.

In Romans 9:2-3, Paul says that, “My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and

unending grief for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing

to be forever cursed – cut of from Christ! – if that would save them.” These

versus put our lives to shame, doesn’t it?

 When we look at other apostles, they were all equally devoted to the same

mission. They preached in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria. They break the barriers

of race, ethnicity, and gender to bring people to Jesus and eventually all, except

for John, laid their lives as martyrs for this message.

Bur remember, the disciples had not always been so moved or into

people. They were the ones who sent the children away; asked for fire from

heaven on some believers, and criticized the woman who washed Jesus’ feet

with expensive perfume. Paul even had the first Christian tortured and

imprisoned. However, when THEY allowed Jesus to transform them, the passion

for Christ and the mission ignited. We can allow Jesus to transform us and have

the passion ignited in us, too. One thing is for sure: Jesus had always been and

he is still, passionate about people. His mission has always been and still is to

find the lost sheep and carry them back. And, if that meant walking for miles on a

dusty road, or in a hostile Samaritan territory at midday to meet the woman at the

well, Jesus did it. Now, if we see what Jesus had done for people in seeking the

lost and we do not feel passionate about people, then we are just and observer,

NOT a follower. We can’t be a disciple of Jesus but feeeling indifferently about

people.

I believe, in our daily lives, we have dealt with all sort of people or perhaps

leaders who we may think as “faultless” in the sense that they have all the right

answers and is always right, but lacking the passion for people. These people

are fulfilling a duty. It is an obligation and drudgery – They do it be Jesus said so.

Now, this is not the way Jesus wants us to be. He wants us to be passionate
about His work. He wants us to have this one important ingredient, which is the

care factor.

Now, it is important to understand and to remember that we do not have to

be a perfect individual in carrying out His mission. People will surely overlook all

of our faults if they see that we truly care and love them.

In 1 Cor. 13:1-3, “ What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels?

If I do not love others, I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or clanging

cymbals. What if I could prophesize and understand all the secrets and all

knowledge? And what if I had faith that moved mountains? I would be nothing,

unless I loved others. What if I gave away all I owned and let myself be burnt

alive? I would gained nothing, unless I loved others. “

From these versus above, it tells us to be passionate. Be loving. Let the Holy

Spirit be ignite our passion for others. Allow Jesus to change out hearts and to

burn for those who are searching for the Shepherd and still straying in the wild.

We have been created uniquely different from each other. Therefore, we

can’t deny that out opinions and point of views differ from each other. We see

things differently. Too often that we have treated people, outside of our Adventist

community as if they had an infectious disease. We dare not mingle with them

out of fear of being contaminated. They, in turn, feel rejected by our judgmental

attitude, or at least view Christians as arrogant. Either ways, both are

devastating. However, this was never Jesus’ approach. “Christ did not refuse to

mingle with others in friendly intercourse. When invited to a feast by a Pharisee

or publican, He accepted the invitation. Christ thus taught His disciples how to
conduct themselves when in company of those who were not religious as well as

those who are.” (Testimonies for Church, vol.6, pp 172, 173)

As sons and daughters of our Father above, it is our duty to tell others and

help navigating those who are lost for they are children of God too. Jesus does

not need perfection, he just wants our willingness. All he needs are our passion,

care and love for others.