I am in the process of learning how to understand and accept passionate people. In fact, I intend to do everything in my power to welcome passionate people to our church. God save us from those who don't care about something. As we continue our growth, we are seeking to develop a church culture that values passion.
The idea goes something like this. We start new ministries and try to talk people into participating because it is a good thing to do. After a while, it's like pulling teeth to keep people involved. They need someone to come along and use a bicycle pump to pump up their tire so they can go again. The cycle repeats over and over again. The result is frustration on the part of everyone involved. The need for constant pep talks demonstrates that their hearts are not in the activity.
Our new strategy is to figure out who our people are (What is your passion?) and match them with spiritual activity that is consistent with their gifts and passions. I don't have a desire to increase our participation and service each week by just 20-30%. My goal is to get as close to 100% participation in any given week as possible. (Every member serves God in a tangible way every week). God's people need to know what it is like to successfully serve Him on purpose each week. The satisfaction that comes from pleasing God is achievable by the whole church. To the extent that we can help those who have never purposefully served God on a regular basis see God use them in an area that they already enjoy, we can develop their appetite to be involved in other spiritual activities.
We need to be honest in our expectations and our communication about them. There are more ways to serve God each week than just going on door-to-door visitation, soul-winning, and bus visitation. Though these activities are commendable and a great way to put the command of the great commission into practice, I question the wisdom of acting like this is the first step toward maturity or even the ultimate step of maturity. Serving God has to be a way of life, and it has to be something that can be done no matter where one is or what one's skills or abilities are. Relationship with God is essential. Let's start by helping folks literally take the logical next step. Start where you are. The most important spiritual step that you can take today is the next one.
As to passionate people, passion is not the answer to every problem. In fact, it can create problems in the church. Passionate people don't always get along with other passionate people. Passionate people don't get why others don't share their passion. It takes work to work with passionate people. What is the solution to helping those with passion get along with others, it's the same as the solution to helping those who are not currently serving the Lord. Discipleship.
May God give us a passion to serve Him! Passionate people are welcome here.
