What drives me?

It is a very interesting question, and many Christian authors have addressed it. Gordon MacDonald contrasts to be driven with being called (1). He definitely has a point – a called person follows the Master; a driven person can run ahead of Him. God never drives anybody against their own will; however, I can be so ambitious on God’s behalf that it can wear me out. There is also something positive with having a drive. Rick Warren has written about the importance of being driven by a purpose (2).

Ten months ago I wrote about “Four factors influencing movement” and mentioned “Passion” as the first driving force. This week I have been studying Nehemiah and his leadership once again. The first quality I see in his leadership, is that he was driven by a passion.

When Nehemiah received the news that the Jews who had survived the exile and returned to Jerusalem were in great trouble and disgrace because of the state of the city, his heart was filled grief, but also with burning passion (3). With the passion, came a kind of conviction that this was now his responsibility. If you are passionate about something, you have to be involved yourself, you cannot sit and only watch others being involved. Genuine passion will drive me into action, and that is a good thing.

We find this passion in ground-breaking spiritual leaders. Passion drove Jesus to the cross. It made Paul write:

For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel.
Rom 9:3-4a

In other words, Paul was willing to sacrifice his own salvation if it could save his own people. A similar passion can be seen in people like John Knox who prayed: “Give me Scotland, least I die”.

It made Catherine Booth cry: “Never!” when the leaders of the church put restrictions on William’s ministry. It made the old William Booth proclaim in his last sermon: “I will fight to the very end!”

‘Manna’ for today:

I want to be driven by my passion for Jesus

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(1) Gordon MacDonald: “Ordering your private world”
(2) Rick Warren: “Purposedriven Life” & “Purposedriven Church”
(3) Nehemiah 1:4

It is about fruit that gives strength

NORSK
It is almost 40 years since I received my first farewell-orders from Bergen 1. Corps. I had served there as an assistant, and it was my first appointment after I was commissioned as an officer. 

After the farewell meeting, one of the elderly soldiers, Bjarne, came to me and said: 
“You are strong, Jostein!” 
I was a little puzzled by his greeting and asked: 
“Why do you say that?” 
“Because you are joyful!” Bjarne replied, 
“The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is your strength (1) – don’t let anything rob you for the joy in the Lord!”

May be Bjarne had made correct observations, and that joy was the quality of the fruit of the Spirit, which was most evident in my life when I was young. I can certainly point out quite a few of the other qualities that were more absent than present; but Bjarne had the gift of encouragement, and I knew that he had a vibrant relationship with the Lord.

Love is a very strong power, but in a way, love includes the whole strength-register from weak to strong. For example I cannot love without becoming vulnerable. God’s own love proves this fact.

Joy, which is second on the list of characteristics of the fruit of the Spirit (2), is different; it is a quality that strengthens. The first Christian experienced that joy gave them strength in adversity and persecution:

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
Acts 5:41 

I believe Paul also received strength in joy. He often faced persecution, imprisonment and flogging before his earthly life was crowned with martyrdom. Still he showed how important joy is through repeating his exhortation to rejoice:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Phil 4:4 

I have never managed to identify with the caricatured and sad picture that is often associated with Christians. My Christian upbringing and my adult life as a believer, has been and is a joyful experience. At the same time, I have visited communities of believers, where there has been little room for expressions of joy and rejoicing. Under such circumstances I try to sense if this represents religion or life. There is no doubt the joy belongs to the life of Christ, to the life of the vine. That should indicate that absence of joy means absence of Christ.

Today 'manna':

Holiness is about the strength of the joy in the Lord.

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* A joyful young man in May 1976
(1) Neh 8:10
(2) The fruit of the Spirit is… joy – Gal 5:22