Well today I was enjoying the first in Mark Batterson's "Wild Goose Chase" series, and (as per usual) he said something that hit me smack across the face. You see this series is about living a life full of adventure. Living a life led my the Holy Spirit (the wild goose). In this podcast he asked a simple question: "What is your passion?" The answer, I thought, was easy. I'm passionate about the Dallas Stars, I'm passionate about warm weather, I'm passionate about my family, all those are my passions. But that wasn't what he was asking. He re-phrased the question this way: "What makes you cry or pound your fist on the table? What makes you smile?" WHOA! That's a totally different question.
Sure I see people suffering around the world, and it makes me mad. I hear about the sex trade in Asia and it upsets me. The fact we have so much, and yet we crave more, while there are people in Africa that don't have access to clean drinking water, makes me cringe. But that's not what upsets me the most.
I think what makes me cry or pound my fist on the table the most is when Christians get in the way of others experiencing God. When someone is turned off of God because we try to make them adhere to a set of rules as a pre-requisite to a God experience. When they are so turned off by their experience with church, that they give up on God. That makes me upset. What makes me smile is when I hear of people like Pernell Goodyear (The Freeway) that are thinking outside the box to reach their communities.
So I toss this question your way: "What makes you cry or pound your fist on the table? What makes you smile?"
Evil makes me smile.
ReplyDeletepeople who treat the homeless like garbage make me mad.
ReplyDeletepeople who don't think critically bother me. They vote for one party because "that's who Christians are supposed to vote for."
ReplyDeleteI'll take the question seriously... I think it's a good question.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me happy when I see people engaging God through song. That's why I lead worship. Not to be a rock star, but to see people enter the throne room of God through worship.
Christians who don't think dinosaurs exist!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see people be more generous. We have so much as Canadians, and we spend it on ourselves. How about thinking globally? Spreading the wealth?
ReplyDeleteI pound my fist at the fact people are treated like comodities nowadays. People are disposable and that bothers me.
ReplyDeleteSocial justice issues get me going. I know it seems to be a fad right now, but this has been on my heart since I was a teenager.
ReplyDelete