This evening’s message is entitled “Harnessing Your Passion.” “Harness” means “to tie together,” and “to yoke.”(1) You know what a yoke is, right? It is “a wooden bar or frame by which two . . . oxen are joined at the heads or necks for working together,” but it is also “the control device for an airplane.”(2) Therefore, to harness our passion is to take control of it.
It has been said, “The passions are like fire, useful in a thousand ways and dangerous only in one, through their excess.”(3) We need to harness or control our passion, for way too many of us allow our passion to get out of control. Instead of controlling our passion and utilizing it for good, we allow it to go unchecked and it only results in harm, to both others and ourselves.
We will work through this message by addressing a few questions. The questions I will ask that I will attempt to answer in a step-by-step manner during this sermon are: “What is passion?” “Is anyone here passionate?” “Why should we harness passion?” and “What should we be passionate about?” Answering these questions will be accomplished by the use of Scripture and by looking at the way certain biblical characters, such as the apostle Peter and Jesus Christ, handled their passion. So, if you are curious to see what this is all about, then we will begin with our first question!
Question # 1: What Is Passion?
Our first question is “What is passion?” The word “passion” has multiple meanings. “Passion” can mean “suffering,” as in the “Passion of Christ” referred to in Acts 1:3,(4) which says, “To whom also He [or Jesus] showed Himself alive after His passion . . .” (KJV). This meaning is where we derive the term “passion play” during Easter time. “Passion” can also refer to “physical lust,” as seen in 1 Corinthians 7:9, which says, “But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion” (NIV).
The way we will come to understand the word “passion” during this evening’s message will be in the sense of “zeal,” “ardor,” “love,” or “eager desire.”(5) We are going to focus on the more positive meaning of passion, the kind of passion that can motivate us to do great things, especially great things for the kingdom of God. It has been said, “Passion is a universal humanity. Without it religion, history, romance and art would be useless.”(6) Therefore passion, as we will come to understand it tonight, can be a good thing.
Question # 2: Is Anyone Here Passionate?
Our second question is this: “Is anyone here passionate?” To do something passionately is to do it with a strong feeling.(7) So, let’s take a look at a man in the New Testament who was very passionate, that we might possibly gain a glimpse of ourselves and know whether or not we too are passionate. The fellow I am going to focus on is Peter, and we will see that he definitely went about doing everything with a strong feeling. In fact he took just about everything he did to its extremity. So, let’s take a close look at this man of extreme passion!
First of all Peter was a man of extreme action. One time when Peter was out fishing, he saw Jesus sitting on the sea shore, and so Peter jumped out of the boat and swam to Jesus, while John calmly rowed to the shore in a small boat (John 21:7-8). Peter was a man of extreme faith. It was Peter who boldly confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:15-16), and it was Peter who stepped out of the fishing boat to walk on the water to meet Jesus (Matthew 14:28-29). Peter was also a man of extreme curiosity. Peter didn’t hesitate to ask Jesus about the meaning of His parables (Matthew 15:15). He was also the one to ask Jesus when the end of time would come (Mark 13:3), and to ask Him who would betray Him (John 13:21-25). Now, these acts of passion seem somewhat good; however, not everything Peter did through his passion was good.
You see, Peter was also a man of extreme fear, for out of fear for his life he denied Jesus three times before the morning rooster crowed (Matthew 26:69-75). He was a man of extreme pride for he had the nerve to rebuke Jesus when He spoke of His nearing crucifixion (Matthew 16:21-22), and he refused to allow Jesus to wash his feet (John 13:5-8). We can see that Peter was a man of extreme anger, for when Jesus was being arrested by a detachment of soldiers from the chief priests and Pharisees, Peter decided to cut off an ear of one of the soldiers (John 18:10).
Peter also had an extreme mouth for he had the habit of speaking before thinking. He told Jesus that he would never deny Him and that he would be willing to die with Him as well (Matthew 26:33-35), but we know that he denied Jesus three times. And then in Mark chapter 9, when the Old Testament figures of Moses and Elijah appeared before Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, the text tells us, “Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah’ – because he did not know what to say . . .” The Scripture tells us Peter said what he did because he really didn’t know what else to say. Peter felt that he had to put in his two cents, and so he spoke just for the sake of saying something.
We can see that Peter lived his life through passion, for he was extreme in the way he handled the majority of the situations he encountered in life. After looking at Peter, I want to ask you again, “Is Anyone Here Passionate?” Does anyone here live in extreme fear, have extreme pride or an extreme mouth, or exhibit extreme anger? I would say that many of us are passionate people, though we may not wish to admit it.
Some of us live in the extreme fear of change if we see something new or different happening in church. Some of us have both extreme pride and an extreme mouth, for we love to speak our minds. Sometimes we say things that hurt people even though we do not really mean to hurt anyone. We just spoke before we thought about it. And then there are those of us who have extreme anger problems. We blow up when we get our feelings hurt in the least little way.
It’s easy to identify a passionate person, for they can be the sweetest, most tenderhearted person around; and then become the meanest, most hot-headed person when something rubs them the wrong way. You are probably trying to identify some passionate people right now as I am speaking to you. Right?
We probably have some passionate people among us here; however, as we have seen, passion can be both good and bad, and this brings us to our next question.
Question # 3: Why Should We Harness Passion?
Our third question is “Why should we harness passion?” The answer is twofold: First of all, misguided passion can get out of control and hurt people; and secondly, controlled passion can be useful for furthering the kingdom of God. Let’s take a look at passion when it exhibits itself in the form of anger, for anger can issue forth from both misguided and controlled passion.
Think back to when Peter became passionate about the soldiers trying to arrest Jesus. His passion turned to anger and he hurt someone physically by cutting off his ear. This was a bad result of anger. But can there be a positive outcome of anger arising out of passion? The Bible implies that there can be a positive outcome, for Ephesians 4:26 says, “Be angry, and do not sin,” showing that it is possible to be angry and not commit sin. The passion of anger can be without sin if it is a righteous anger. I want to read for you John 2:13-17 as an example of righteous anger (and please feel free to turn there):
John 2:13-17 – Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.”
There can be no doubt that Jesus exhibited anger here, for He drove the moneychangers out with a whip that He had fashioned, and He turned over the tables and poured out the moneychangers money. It sounds like He was very angry; however, 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that Jesus knew no sin. His anger was a righteous anger, and we know this for verse 17 tells us that He acted this way out of zeal for God’s house. The New Living Translation renders the word “zeal” as the word “passion.” The anger that to led Jesus driving out the moneychangers was the result of His passion for His Father in heaven.
Passion should be harnessed or controlled, because when controlled it can be a powerful asset to God’s kingdom work. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Passion, though [sometimes] a bad regulator, is a powerful spring.”(8) Passion packs a powerful punch! So, instead of allowing our passion to control us, we need to learn to control it. And if you happen to be a passionate person, God can use you in a mighty way for His glory and His kingdom.
Question # 4: What Should We Be Passionate About?
Our fourth and final question is “What should we be passionate about?” We just saw that Jesus was passionate about the Lord and about His house. Verse 17, which says, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up” is derived from Psalm 69:9, which in the New Living Translation says, “Passion for your house burns within me, so those who insult you are also insulting me.” We who are passionate need to learn to harness that passion and redirect it to be a passion for God and for the things of God.
In relation to passion manifested through anger, if you are going to get mad then let it be a righteous anger for the things of God. Instead of being personally insulted over petty things, let’s get personal about the insults made against God. Instead of using the energy we have to stir up trouble or fight with each other, let’s use that passion to do good things for God and for other people.
Larry Crabb says, “The core problem is not that we are too passionate about bad things, but that we are not passionate enough about good things.”(9) Let’s get passionate about doing good things for the kingdom of God! Just as both Jesus Christ and King David said, “Passion for your house burns within me,” we too should be able to declare, “Passion for Jesus burns within me.” Those of you who are passionate people, you need to redirect your passion and use it for the Lord. Passion for the Lord is a must in the life of a Christian.
A person once said, “Passion isn’t just a strong emotion. It is a commitment to a dream in which you’re willing to lay everything on the table and say, ‘Lord, I don’t care what the cost is [to me]. I want to see You in all Your power and glory . . . I want to see You high and lifted up’.”(10) If you are a passionate person, then get passionate about the things of God, and not just the things that meet your personal preferences. Use your passion to see Jesus high and lifted up!
Time of Reflection
If you are a passionate person and you have been misusing your passion in a way that is harmful to other people or to the kingdom of God, then I want to encourage you this evening to ask God’s forgiveness. And then ask Him to show you some things about which you can be passionate that will bring glory to the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ.
If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, then you are probably passionate about many other things in life. You might be passionate about cars, or your pets, or pickup trucks, guns, or even airplanes. You might be passionate about arguing or fighting with other people, or you might be passionate about worrying. Where we direct our passion actually shows the things we deem as important; and many times the things, which we are passionate about, become our god or idol.
We know from the Bible that idols are not at all real and that they eventually perish, for they are made of this world. If your passion is not rooted in God then it is a passion that will be unfulfilling; and it is a wasted passion, because anything other than God will perish with this world which is slowly wasting away. I want to encourage you to allow your passion to be founded in Jesus Christ, whom the Bible says is the same, yesterday, today, and forever; for Jesus will only lift you up. He will never let you down.
NOTES
(1) Merriam-Webster Online, “Harness,” taken from the Internet December 2003 at http://www.m-w.com/home.htm.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Christian Nestell Bovee, “Passion,” Webster’s 21st Century Book of Quotations (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1992), p. 195.
(4) Noah Webster, “Passion” 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language (San Francisco: Foundation for American Christian Education, 2002).
(5) Ibid.
(6) Honore de Balzac, “Passion,” Webster’s 21st Century Book of Quotations, p. 195.
(7) Webster, “Passionately,” 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language.
(8) “Passion,” Webster’s 21st Century Book of Quotations, p. 195.
(9) Raymond McHenry, McHenry’s Stories for the Soul (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2001), p. 205.
(10) Christian Creative Arts Association, taken from the Internet December 2003 at http://www.wordspring.com/index.html.
