Lately I have hearing a lot of Christians getting frustrated because not everyone else is joining their particular cause. People don't understand how someone could not be fired up about the things they are. Sometimes it gets so bad that insults and accusations about peoples priorities and spirituality (or lack thereof) start getting thrown around. Is that really how Christians should be behaving? I think it is really sad because we need people to be passionate about different things.
Isn't it fantastic how differently God has wired people to be? People find such an extraordinary diversity of things to be passionate about. There are people in love with doing things most of us never would have thought of or wouldn't enjoy doing. Some people help by moving to far away lands, some help from right where they are. Some people care about feeding street kids, or providing medicine for those with AIDS. Some are passionate about helping addicts recover or teaching immigrants. Some people are driven to campaign against environmental destruction or socially destructive trade policies. There are people who care deeply for countries most people couldn't find on a map. Some people have the skills to build houses, drill wells or knit blankets for babies in orphanages. There's people helping by doing everything from photography to plumbing, web design to weeding. Some people channel their love of animals into caring for the pets of those fleeing natural disasters or domestic violence. Some are especially skilled at raising money, some at making sure the raised money is used well. The list is endless!
Can you imagine how much would not get done if we were all passionate about the same causes? A few things would get done really well but huge amounts of need would be completely overlooked. We should celebrate the wonderful diversity of ways people are passionate about making a difference. Instead of tearing down those already busy with another cause, we should encourage them and pray that God would raise up more people to fill the areas in which there are gaps.
