Passion to serve

When we look at the world, it seems to be full of problems. There's political issues overseas, extreme poverty in many countries, bombings in neighbouring nations, and even conflict in our cities and communities. Sometimes watching the news is overwhelming and disheartening and is much easier to simply ignore. However, Jesus calls us to serve Him by addressing these problems. It is not enough to meet physical needs, as secular organizations do through good works. It's more important to give what Christ has given us, which is hope of eternal life and forgiveness of sins. But exactly where and to whom do we start serving?

Our church fellowship just started a series called, Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado. It challenged us to become aware of the physical needs around the world and to think about how we can make a difference. In our discussion, we talked about with whom our passion lies or to whom we felt an urgency to witness to. The advice was to look for the people whose language made the most sense to us. This didn't just mean linguistics, but the type of people we connected to. This would be our area of fluency.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, "are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ... we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." (Acts 2:4-8, 11b)

This passage talks about the apostles gathering as the first church in history and how the Holy Spirit was sent to them so they could proclaim the Good News of Jesus in different languages. Notice that each apostle was fluent enough in another language that foreigners were amazed that they could actually understand the apostles in their own language. This is the fluency that is unique to each of us so we also can witness to a unique type of people. We do not have this fluency on our own, but like the apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit, so we have the Holy Spirit working in us and gifting us too.

What do I really mean by looking for people we connect to? I'll give you a few examples that our fellowship talked about and then share my own.

One person is an occupational therapist and she has been so blessed because her language of fluency lies with the clients she works with. They are people who have suffered from chronic injuries that are suffering both physically and emotionally. Those are the people she has a passion for. Those are the people to whom she feels the burden to share Jesus with.

Another friend has a passion for international students. She never really seeks out these students on her own but for some reason, God sends them to her. She connects with them well because she understands their feelings of being lost or loneliness. She loves to introduce them to a loving community by inviting them to church or fellowship and that has become her fluency.

My sister has a heart for inner-city kids. While studying to become a teacher, she has spent her summers working with missions that cater directly to inner-city kids coming from low-income families. She has found a love for those kids and hopes to teach in schools in their area. She's able to "speak" their language and finds her passion with these people.

As for me, I may still be looking for my language of fluency, but I feel I have a heart for survivors of natural disasters. My first experience was in New Orleans in 2012, where I built houses with Habitat for Humanity. It was 7 years after Hurricane Katrina, yet there was still such lack of development in the hurricane-hit area. I was able to meet a man who lost his home in the hurricane, moved away, but inevitably returned to New Orleans. We were there when he finally gained property of his new backyard and this small thing made him so happy! I realized that although the people there were surprisingly happy (this may have been because it was Mardi Gras week), they could receive so much greater, everlasting joy if they knew God. I want to bring this gift of joy and hope to the Japanese as well, especially as I will be visiting people on the coastline. They will be the people who have lost their homes in the tsunami and are still restricted to living in temporary homes. However, I think I'll only be able to confirm whether or not I have a passion for these people after this missions trip.

With these examples, it is important to note that we all have a different passion. Just because we don't feel equal burdens doesn't mean we don't care about other people who don't speak our language.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12)

As God tells us in this verse, we as Christians are different parts of the body of the church and therefore have unique gifts for different ministries. However, together we are one body, so our purpose for ministry should be the same, which is to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

As you think about your passion, it might be hard to really know or define where it is. But as evident in the examples above, no one starts by choosing their passion first and then going out in the world to make it come true. The passion is found after going through experiences and discovering where God wants you to be. So what should you do? Get experience! Find those opportunities, pray, and pursue them! God will help you find your passion and you'll have so much joy serving God! I'll cheer you on! :)

Love,
J