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I was recently recounting my first viewing of the movie "The Passion of the Christ" and the meaning of that word passion. I was so moved that I could barely control my emotion. As the movie unfolded, Scripture kept coming to mind.

I had, in some ways, prepared myself to see the movie by meditating on Psalms 22, Isaiah 53 and Matthew 27. I saw each scripture come to life and the sacrifice of my Lord was never so real to me. The price that He paid became so very real. His love for me proved so very great.

It put so many things into perspective. After the movie ended I sat there as so many others silenced by a sense of holiness. That moment was a gift from God. I sat and I contemplated the sacrifice, the love, the agony...the passion...and I wept.

As I left the theater and drove home I received a call from a pastor. He was getting back to me concerning a mission's outreach that we were setting up for some of our churches. He informed me that they were not going to be able to participate. His exact words were, "There just isn't any interest."

All I could do was thank him for returning my call, wish him a good day and hang up the phone. There was such a flood of emotions, including anger, passion, frustration, as my heart broke. When I arrived home I went to my office where I could be alone and I just wept as I remembered the passion, the sacrifice, the love...and the words of that pastor.

Today I sit and I ask myself again what was "The Passion," what is passion? Yes, I know it is a religious word used to describe the sufferings of Christ. It is also a word used to describe intense, overpowering emotion, fervid devotion tending toward extreme action.

I remember "The Passion" as a movie that enabled me to experience the suffering of my Lord. But is it more? How has it impacted or changed me? Is it more than an event? Has His Passion become my passion? In accepting Christ as my Lord and Savior have I become a part of "the passion"? Do I now share in His passion?

Christ had passion, passion in His sacrifice, in His death, in His suffering, in His resurrection and the salvation that it would bring. When you witness His passion you can see that it was not casual, but committed. Christ was and still is passionately committed to the sacrifice, His shed blood and the salvation that it secured.

"The Passion" was about something, something that many in the body of Christ still cannot grasp. "The Passion" was about me and you and all the peoples of the world. Let me show you:
Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
(Matt. 9:35-38 NKJV)
Jesus lived and ministered and died compelled by this compassion. Christ loved people and he realized that loving people was not simply a matter of talk but of action. He realized that love would have to make that ultimate sacrifice. The Passion would be necessary if men were to be saved.
And [now] they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll and to break the seals that are on it, for You were slain (sacrificed), and with Your blood You purchased men unto God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

And You have made them a kingdom (royal race) and priests to our God, and they shall reign [as kings] over the earth!
(Rev 5:9-10 AMP)
Here we see that the Lamb of God, Jesus the Christ, was sacrificed and it was by that precious blood that He purchased men unto God. This is not for you and me alone, but for men from every tribe and language and people and nation. In essence, what I am saying is that Christ endured the Passion because of His love and great passion for people, people from the nations of the world.

We can never forget the witnessing of His passion, that sacrifice should be more and more real to us every day. That passion for precious souls should cause us to live our lives in His service. Everyday we have to ask ourselves, "Has His passion become our passion? Has the passion of my life become misdirected? Have I lost my passion?"

I am not just talking about intense emotion, but rather fervid devotion tending toward extreme action. I am talking about not living casually, but living committed. We have been given a command to take the message of God's love and Christ's Passion to the world.

God is not asking you to suffer the excruciating pain of "The Passion," He is not asking you to die for the sins of the world, but He is asking you to become a part of that Passion...to live your life with passion.

Copyright © One World Missions
All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Author Biography

Randy Mitchell
Web site: One World Missions
 
Randy Mitchell and his wife Jessica have been married for 29 years and have three daughters. They currently live in Minnesota where Randy serves as the International Director of One World Missions. Randy graduated from Oral Roberts University and ministered in a pastoral role for ten years before starting One World Missions. Randy holds an earned Doctorate of Ministry with an emphasis on the Mission of God’s People. Randy was an original signatory of the Toyko Declaration in 2010 and serves on the leadership team of the Global Great Commission Network (GGCN). Randy also serves on the Executive Leadership Team for the Global Mobilization Network (GMN).
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