Where Does Passion Come From?

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Colossians 2:6-7

I do something weird that I think everyone should try. On an awkwardly consistent basis I will try to view myself, at that very moment, through my own eyes as a younger person. When I look through my eighteen year old eyes I usually start smiling. I was not a Christian then and when I compare my general angst and direction from those years with the freedom since, simply put, it’s remarkable. However, when I view myself through my twenty year old eyes, when I had just become a Christian, I often see a deterioration (Rev. 2:4, Gal. 5:1). In some very important ways I have substituted successful behaviors for the freedom that comes from finding Jesus more attractive than anything else in the world.

Paul sees the problem and keeps the Colossians on track by telling them that they should live as Christians in the exact way they became Christians to begin with (for theology nerds, this is also how you end up a presuppositional apologist). In other words, when you first became a Christian you were happy to lose everything just to have a bit more of Jesus, and being “built up and established” as Christians happens the same way. Three things about this stand out to me.

1. Paul says they (we) should be “abounding in thanksgiving.” Abounding is a really strong word. It means to be in excess, to be superfluous, almost wasteful. This overflow is what most of us would call passion, and for me it rises and falls in direct proportion to my sense of abounding gratitude. It’s hard not to feel gratitude when looking through my eighteen year old eyes, which is why I will continue my weird habit.

2. I’m just happy to be here. It is difficult to be grateful and have ongoing expectations. In my earliest days as a believer I had no agendas or expectations; I wasn’t waiting for offensives to be resolved or my abilities to be recognized. I was just amazed by the freedom I felt from the values and constraints of the world around me. Not all of these were bad, but none of them could own me. My attention was elsewhere (Heb. 12:2).

3. “So walk in him.” That passion should be lived in slow, steady steps. Yes, through the years I have found a little more wisdom and little more understanding than I had as a college freshman. Also, during this time some parts of my life have become more complicated, but Paul is promising an abiding passion in proportion to abounding thanksgiving and I am happy to say that those things are better walked out over thirty years rather than thirty minutes.
   

So what should I do about this on a Friday? Take a few minutes and view yourself through your pre-Christian eyes and again during a time when your faith felt especially alive. If you cannot remember a time when you were not a believer then forecast how your life might be different now if you were not a Christian, and let those differences walk you into an abounding thanksgiving. Please do this today, because the world needs passionate believers, and I need your passion to spark mine.