Passion

I got to work this morning and had two messages in the form of questions, one of which answered the second.

The first question was a voicemail from a fellow youth pastor asking my thoughts on how I stay passionate about doing ministry. I guess that's a fair question, and it was partly answered by an e-mail that was sent to me last night by a 15-year-old girl asking what she needs to do to become a follower of Jesus. Needless to say, that got me a bit excited.

So how do I stay passionate? First of all, I've discovered that close relationships with those I am ministering to is essential. Having a massive group of people in front of me is great for my ego, but really does nothing for my passion. Relationships get my passion going. But that's only half my answer.

The other half of my answer is this: I'm not concerned about passion. Feelings and emotions are important for us to be in touch with, but we cannot base our ministries on these because they change constantly. I wouldn't hold a ministry position for more than a week at that rate! When Effie and I went through pre-marital counseling, we were told that there would be times when we would fall in and out of love with one another throughout our marriage. The passion fades in and out, but there is something deeper there holding a marriage together. I think there is something profoundly deeper than passion, or even "calling" that holds us in our jobs. I don't even know what I would call this... vocation maybe, but that doesn't even do it justice. It is Spirit-led, and obviously somewhat incomprehensible for me. That's as close as I can come to explaining it.

Peace,
Matt

Still reading Gadamer's very thorough (aka long) Truth and Method. It is an amazing book. Oh, and I don't think I mentioned I am also slowly reading a book of poems by Alberto Rios called Teodoro Luna's Two Kisses.