Passion Is Needed In Our Walk With Christ

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(42) <Jesus, praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, said,> “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”‘ (Luke 22:42)

We begin today with the Florida Gators once again winning the NCAA Basketball Championship, its 1^st one since its two back-to-back runs in 2005-2006.  ‘March Madness’, ‘Bracketology’ and the 68-team tournament is now over and we can once again focus on other sports, like NASCAR, NHL hockey, spring football, and Major League Baseball.  Unfortunately, unlike college basketball, these don’t seem to be exactly the ‘hot’ sports at the moment.

Typically, the NCAA tournament is where an underdog or ‘Cinderella’ team will make a run for the title, but this year’s tournament had all four ‘1^st-seeds’ in the Final Four.  Duke, Auburn, and Houston joined Florida in the ‘Final Four’, with Houston and Florida the ones winning to meet in the Championship. 

While I’m not big into basketball at all (growing up, Pittsburgh only had the ‘Condors’ of the ABA back in the late 1960s for a couple of years, and Pitt basketball was never big except for a few years in the 1990s when they played in the Big East), and did not watch any of the tournament this year except for a couple of minutes in Florida’s semifinal game with Auburn to catch the score, I appreciate the player’s passion for the game, as I do with the players of college football.

Though there is now ‘Name-Image-Likeness’ or ‘NIL’ money flowing to the college athletes (and it is lucrative, as the top collegiate stars make millions from sponsors and boosters), the young players play the game because they have a love of the game.  They want to play the game.  When they turn pro, that passion is often lost when it becomes an obligation under contract, and they have to play the game.  I believe both age and the huge amount of money paid to the athletes often remove that passion. 

For some of those athletes, the obligation of playing quickly undermines their talent and they usually fade fast.  Those that keep at least some portion of their passion for the game extends their careers, and most of those who stay passionate are the big professional stars that end up in their sports’ Hall of Fame.

This ‘passion vs. obligation’ comparison can translate to our relationship in Christ.  When we start believing we are ‘obligated’ in that relationship, we lose our passion and that is where many Christians go off the rails.  Obligation in our divine relationship is not being Christian, but an open door to fall away – like many of the athletes who turn pro, then quickly fade.

We approach what many consider Holy Week, with Palm Sunday this upcoming weekend, and Easter the following weekend.   For some who call themselves Christians, there are those that feel obligated to go to church during Holy Week as that is what they believe Christians should do.  They believe that it is required for them to be in church on Easter Sunday and perhaps Christmas Eve and the other 50 Sundays of the year are optional.  A few in this group may go more often because it ‘checks the box’ on their list of things to do to get to heaven.  It is thought this satisfies the obligation in their deal they believe they have with Jesus.

For others who are Faithful, it is their passion in their relationship in Christ that they have a desire in wanting to worship Jesus not only every Sunday but every day – every moment.  Every week is Holy Week, and though we hold the holidays of Easter and Christmas as sacred in the remembrance of Jesus’ life, our passion for Christ has us desiring to spend more time, not less, with Him.  The Faithful understand we have no obligation to worship Him, but a wanting passion to live for Him, and with Him, and to show that to others.

We go back and see in Jesus the difference between obligation and passion.  Jesus is indeed God Manifested; he was sent, and willing went, from Heaven to Earth for the purpose of establishing Himself as the Fulfillment of the Levitical Law and the One who would be the Ultimate Sacrifice for sin, in turn providing Salvation to all of us who accept Him as our Lord and Savior.  When Jesus is in the garden, He is essentially praying to Himself, being 100% God while 100% man. 

Was Jesus obligated to go down the path of persecution, torture, slander, and then crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection?  No, it wasn’t an obligation.  Jesus owes us nothing, and has no self-serving interest to Himself to go through such agony; Jesus could have easily said, ‘well you’re on your own, humans; I’m not going to be abused like that.’  The decision that Jesus made, being that He is God Manifested, would be the same decision the Father and the Holy Spirit would have as they are one and cannot contradict each other.  Jesus walking away would have cost Him nothing.

Jesus, as the Manifestation of the Triune God, throughout the Old Testament showed a passion instead for His creation, mankind.  God did not have to make the universe or create the Earth or mankind, but He did.  God did not have to make the Garden of Eden or keep us after the advent of sin, but He did.  There is a passion God has for us.  This passion came through when He answered Himself (paraphrasing) with ‘I am willing to go through the pains of persecution, torture, slander, and crucifixion for My creation of mankind’.  The passion of accomplishing the task, even though it was not necessary for Him to do so in His self-interest, was paramount. 

Jesus, after all this passed, did not become bitter at us.  We did not obligate or force Him onto the cross but He had – and continues having – that Love for us that He was compelled to go.   In the same way, many who serve Christ ‘pick up their cross’, not under obligation but under the passion to serve Him.