Force and Passion

I have been thinking and writing about the subject of passion for several days now and this morning an additional insight came to me along these lines. Possibly one of the most dangerous ingredients to mingle with passion, one of the most corrupting elements that destroys the purity of holy passion as it proceeds from the heart of God and desires to flow through our lives, is the subtle, pernicious desire for force.

Force is one of the most addictive ideas that exists and it is impossible for us to become free from this addiction in our own efforts. Force infiltrates nearly everything we do or think about but at the same time contaminates everything it infects. The desire for force and control over others transposes the meaning of the words that God uses to convey the truths of reality to our hearts and minds. Belief in force creates false images in our hearts about how God feels about us and blinds us to the real truth about God's character.

Force is one of the worst elements that has distorted every religion on earth as well as those who think they are not religious. Force is so pervasive that it is taken for granted and we assume that it is simply part of God's order for life. But it is important to become aware that from heaven's perspective, force in relationships is anathema to freedom and true freedom is the only atmosphere in which love can exist. God is love and as such, God and force are polar opposites when it comes to heart relationships.

The reason that many view the idea of God's passion with suspicion at best or even worse believe that it is wrath is because of the deceptive influence that force has had on our lives and experience. Because nearly all of the encounters we have had with passion have involved some level of force that has distorted and perverted it, we have believed that passion itself is possibly inherently evil and so we come up with all sorts of opinions about passion that are not true because of our false assumptions.

But when one begins to perceive the pure and holy passion that pervades and motivates all of heaven and that God desires His children on earth to experience, when one begins to taste of the beauty and transformational power that true passion can have on the soul, when we begin to experience the spontaneous love that pure passion can awaken in the heart, the rapid increase of faith and the atmosphere of hope that is produced in the mind whenever holy passion is present – then it becomes more clear how corrupting this element of force really is and how badly it has distorted our concepts and ideas of reality.

As I thought about this I wondered how this principle might apply to the passages I am currently studying as I listen for God's thoughts in the book of Romans. When I opened to chapter 15 and glanced around it became immediately clear that it has a lot to add to my understanding of this passage. In fact, it seems to explain a lot of things and give clarity that I had not noticed before.

Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. (Romans 15:1) In this world it is always the strong who exploit the weak through the abuse of force. This is linked back to 14:1 where collectively Paul is telling us that in God's kingdom the strong have strength for the purpose of embracing, empowering and lifting the burdens from those who have less strength instead of attempting to force them to conform to our ideas.

The example of Jesus is used in this passage and Jesus is the most startling example of the absence of force. While many like to suppose that Jesus employed force to get His way in the cleansing of the temple and other situations, those notions come more from our preconceived assumptions far more than from a careful examination of the record. Jesus exercised a great deal of power in the arena of the spirit realm, but natural power from true God-likeness and force against the will are not synonymous. Remember one of the most important texts in the Old Testament, 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' says the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6)

In Romans 15 Paul makes it very clear that the power that Jesus had was in His willingness to relate to others from the attitude of a servant. If He had indulged in the use of force it would have been impossible for the events that led up to His death to have ever transpired.

Force never accomplishes the kind of unity of heart and mind that God intends for His people who make up the body of Christ on this earth. What I see described here in this chapter are clear indications of attitudes and relationships that are free of the corrupting influence of force. And the results of choosing to love instead of force is the unity that produces praise and gratitude to God with one voice together. This is the glory of God in reality and is the glory that Jesus came to reveal to us from the Father.

This passage goes on to explain how Jesus related to different groups of people from different cultures and backgrounds. It shows how Jesus related to legalistic, pious religious Jews in such as way as to attract them through every means possible relevant to their beliefs about their religion and their ancestery. On the other hand He also related to Gentiles who had a completely different perspective on reality but likewise He treated them with a servant attitude to reveal to them the great mercy that fills the heart of God.

The purpose of everything that Jesus did with both Jews and Gentiles was to reveal the real truth about God in order to attract both “insiders” and “outsiders” of organized religion to unite their hearts in free expressions of adoration and love for the God who created them all. The unity created by the presence of the Spirit of Jesus is free of all coercion and force but is still largely foreign to our way of thinking. God does not compel obedience, for to do so would be to destroy the very love which is essential for the heart to thrive. God's ways are always based on attraction, not on compulsion.

I am keenly aware that there are many instances in the Bible that can be easily construed to contradict this truth. But it then goes back to examining the motive of the one evaluating these events. What is it that I want to find in the passage or story? Am I trying to justify a preconceived opinion or am I willing to question my assumptions about how God operates? The spirit with which I come to look for truth has a great deal to do with the conclusions that I arrive at. And I believe that God is far more concerned about the attitude of my heart in my pursuit of truth than He gets uptight about whether my facts are all in perfect order or not.

Again, even in our search to find truth we can become conscious of the pernicious influence and contaminating effect of force in our reasoning. Whenever I sense in my own spirit a craving to impose my ideas on another person and somehow force them to believe as I do, I realize that I am being compromised by this evil virus. I find very often that I have to guard my words and pray earnestly inside for God to change my attitude and spirit whenever I become aware of this internal sensation of force infecting my words and spirit. I realize that if I indulge in the temptation of force that I cannot reflect the servant spirit that was the hallmark of the life of Jesus.

It may seem like the kingdom of heaven will hopelessly flounder if we do not at least occasionally use a little force to overcome the darkness of sin. But force is never God's method and will only obscure the true character and plans of God. Force confuses the heart about the true nature of God. The true characteristic of which force is the counterfeit is the effective power that comes from the presence of selfless, passionate love. This is the true power of God according to Jesus Christ. This is the real power of the Holy Spirit that will bring final resolution to the controversy between Christ and Satan.

From a human standpoint this makes little or no sense. But it is a fact that the wisdom of God usually looks like foolishness to men and the wisdom of men is definitely foolishness from heaven's viewpoint. But if we take the teachings of Jesus seriously we will begin to see that God's ways are definitely not man's ways and all of our thinking and assumptions have to be transformed and rewired if we are ever going to be safe to live in the presence of the fiery passion of God's love. Force creates an element of resistance that causes deadly, consuming inner fire whenever it encounters the selfless passion of heaven. I want to become free from this terrible influence and to be filled with the true passion of selfless love that marked the life of my Savior.

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