Passions of the heart - The Good and the Bad of it

Post 7 of 100 for 2013

A friend of mine recently posted on FB that one has to follow the passions of their heart.  I found that I was split thinking about this.  If I were sick I would want a healthcare provider who was passionate about curing my illness but I sure wouldn't want to run in to a Jihadist who was passionate about killing non-muslims.

To be passionate about things means to have a fire in your heart for them.  I think there are three shapes such passions can take.
1.  They can be God birthed and intended to bring God's greatness and his love into the world in greater measure
2.  They can be from Satan and they are fueled by hate, greed or lust.
3.  They are of our flesh and for whatever reason we have a great interest in some topic, person or activity and we are therefore willing to give as much of our time to it as possible.

I am reminded of the Apostle Paul's discussion on gifts of the spirit in the 12-14th chapters of 1 Corinthians. In the middle of his discussion, he brings about the revelation that if we do or seek anything except as motivated by agape love (the love that proceeds from the Godhead) then it is pretty much pointless.  If we are passionate about serving God or loving people then its pretty obvious that its from God.  Take Mother Teresa - she had a great passion for loving and caring for the lowest of the low in Indian culture; lepers.

I am convinced that all true God birthed passions revolve around agape love --  A love that transcends cultural dictates and human desires.   God birthed passions involve doing things that demonstrate God's love for people, our love for God and our love for others.

I think that hate based passions are pretty abhorrent to most of us in the west that have been influenced by Judeo-Christian culture.  Jesus says that anyone who hates their neighbor is guilty of murder.  Hate is a murderous mentality.  Hate desires the worst for someone else.  Hate rejoices in the downfall of our adversaries.  Hate is something that is discouraged even in the OT.  We are warned not to rejoice when our adversaries fall.  The only thing that we are really encouraged to passionately hate is sin, yet still we are called to love sinners.

Greed and lust however seem to be encouraged more and more in our society.  I have seen a news report that claimed that greed is good for America. Clearly after the crash I don't think we can argue that anymore.  Greed plaid a big part in the world economic collapse.

Pornography is one of that fastest growing items on the internet.   Some people seem neutral about it, as if there is nothing bad about it.  There are some studies that have suggested that as many as 50% of missionaries are addicted to pornography.  One of my mentors defined lust as desire out of control.  If there is anything in our lives where desire for anything is control where it becomes obsession, I think it wise to reevaluate our pursuit of it.

The third item, passions birthed in our flesh or our psyche, I think are a lot of the time-wasters in life.  On one side one's passion for aviation or RPGs or Star Wars or Star Trek, doesn't necessarily add any true value to life. Yet I know that God can even turn defeat into a blessing.  God can use our interests in sports, or automobiles or just about anything else as a way to build relationships with others.  Jesus came to give life and to give it to the full.

There is part of me tempted to say that anything that is not God focused as being worthless, but God ordains governments, He creates beauty and he gave us a brain capable of seemingly infinite capacity for creativity and reasoning. So I am not ready to throw out the baby with the bathwater.   I am a pastor and teacher by calling, but I enjoy a bit of science fiction and drama.  I especially enjoy  books, TV shows and movies which wrestle with both social and religious issues.  I believe as a pastor and teacher that I must find imaginative ways to reach people who have interests outside of mine with the truth of the Gospel.

So in the end I must conclude that all passions based in agape love are to be fully embraced, all based upon hate, greed or lust must be spurned and that we must invite God into our passions which which are neither of the previous two.   We are reminded in the NT that God causes all things to work for the good of those called by God and who love God.  May your passions be fanned into a form that will glorify God and will enable you to love others as He has loved you.

Blessings,
Alan