Lives of passion step outside the normal and rational and give all they have gladly and generously. I love this definition of passion being made popular by Louie: “Passion is the degree of difficulty we are willing to endure to achieve the goal.”
Defined in this way, passion becomes a life laid down in extravagant surrender—thoughts, words and deeds thrown wholeheartedly into the mix even when it costs us something. Or indeed, costs us everything.
This definition also brings us right back to the cross. The passion of Jesus shows us the most heightened example we ever will see of “the degree of difficulty we are willing to endure to achieve the goal.”
At Calvary, we encounter the Savior of the world—who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross and scorned all of its shame. He underwent agonies we never could imagine. If we were to look at the cross simply through the lens of physical torture it would be grueling enough in and of itself. The cross was one of the most gruesome and painful forms of capital punishment this world has ever seen.
Yet this was no ordinary crucifixion. For here was the Son of God—He who was pure and faultless—becoming stained by our sin and shame. The One so accustomed to the peace and joy of heaven encountered the depths of earthly shame, suffering and pain. He had no sin and instead became sin for us.
He who existed in close communion with the Father felt the cruelty and dark loneliness of Gethsemane and Calvary. Add all of these factors together, and you are left with a cross that is not only physically heavy to carry—but one that is unfathomably heavy to bear in spiritual, emotional and psychological terms. Yet Christ did so. Astonishingly, He chose to do so. That is the ultimate display of passion.
Be assured, Jesus was not eager to face the agonies of that place. We do not find Him bubbling over with anticipation—completely the opposite. On the eve of His death, the Savior cries out:
“Abba, Father…everything is possible for You. Take
this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You
will” (Mark 14:36).
A passionate obedience to the Father and an unwavering commitment to His mission see Jesus through the loneliness of Gethsemane and to the cross. This really is the passion of the Christ. The passion of the worshipper must take on the very same characteristics.
Scripture is full of worship songs and devotional music—and in the right place, music can play such a wonderful and unique role in our worship. It’s part of how we’ve been made and a wonderful way to express our devotion to God together. Eugene Peterson writes:
“Song and dance are the result of an excess energy.
When we are normal we talk, when we are dying we
whisper, but when there is more in us than we contain
we sing. When we are healthy we walk, when
we are decrepit we shuffle, but when we are beyond
ourselves with vitality we dance.”
Passionate worship is never a matter of merely getting the words and tune right or raising a loud shout. The true test of our passion for God always will be our lives.
If I’m looking for a heightened way to tell God I love Him, the very best way has very little to do with stringing poetic sentences together. It involves a life laid down in service and adoration. The concrete evidence of whether our worship has lived or died in us always will be our lives. We may sing our songs with good intentions; but in the end, our lives must become the evidence.
Singing is easy. The proof is always in the living…or even the dying. Will the music in our hearts subside when the going gets tough? Will we be distracted or discouraged from our cause when the conditions aren’t favorable? Will the fireworks of our excited hearts come to nothing more than a momentary spark that fizzles out, never to be seen again? Or could we prove the flames of our passion even in the furnace of difficulty, inconvenience and endurance?
Passion is not only that which gets us up in the morning—it helps us see it through to the end of the day. Passion finishes what it begins and makes good on its promise of running the race with perseverance and turning good intentions into fulfilled dreams. Passion is always more than a party. It’s a story of guts and glory, pain and purpose. For anyone who truly has encountered the wonder of the cross, it soon becomes a way of life.
Matt Redman is a worship leader, award-winning songwriter and author who lives on the south coast of England. This article is adapted from his latest book, Mirror Ball: Living Boldly and Shining Brightly for the Glory of God. Content copyright 2011 Matt Redman. Mirror Ball published by David C. Cook. Publisher permission required to reproduce. All rights reserved.
