original photo from pixabay Lately, I feel like God has really been calling me to just surrender myself completely to Him. Through vari...

Thoughtful Thursdays: Passionate

Alexa Mintah

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original photo from pixabay

Lately, I feel like God has really been calling me to just surrender myself completely to Him. Through various sermons, my personal Bible study, songs, even other bloggers, it all seems to be calling, telling me the same thing: Surrender. Like my next step in this relationship is to just give myself over to Him completely, to let Him order my every step, shine through my every word, show through me in all that I say, think, and do. To be so completely driven by, taken over, obsessed with Jesus, that when people look at me, He’s all that they see.

This idea has been stewing in the back of my mind for a while, but it really sort of came together for me a couple of weeks ago, when my youth group started doing this series called Viral. Basically, we talked about how we can share and show Jesus in our daily lives, and how, if we’re walking the right path, truly living Him out with everything we are, then we can actually make Jesus go viral. And it was just so... I don’t know. Funny? Cool? Weird? Because I’d had the exact same thoughts recently, about how we as Christians could come together and make Jesus famous in a good way. Let everyone we come in contact with see His wonderful love for what it really is.

But I wasn’t sure how to actually do that. Like, what would it look like? I mean, it’s easy to say “follow Jesus,” “be a fisher of men,” “listen for The Lord; He shall direct your paths,” and every other cryptic command you’ll hear from a pew. And these aren’t bad things, please don’t get me wrong. Just, for me, it wasn’t super practical advice. What I wanted to know was how to actually do that? Give me a step-by-step, lol, of what this Christian thing actually looks like.

My youth pastors gave a lot of tips during Viral, and they were great. But as I was leaving church one night and I got to thinking about it even more, well, I came up with this little spiel you’re about to read.

First off, I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I have all the answers.

But the same day as one of the Viral series, I was talking to one of my best friends about how I get with certain fandoms. When I fall in love with a movie/book/tv show, I get downright, absolutely, totally, and utterly obsessed. I think about the characters constantly, and I replay the scenes in my mind throughout the day, I find all the extras and the deleted scenes, I pin a billion heartbreaking pics, I read all the (good) fanfiction, and I write a couple hundred of my own. I theorize about the charries’ pasts, emotions, motives, and come up with a million mental headcanons. I take apart every single plotline, scene, every little word, until I know this thing inside out, backwards and forwards, every miniscule detail worth knowing. Then I either get bored and move on or become completely obsessed with a new fandom.

I was giggling madly while I talked to her because I was thinking about my fandom at the time, and later, I felt like I should feel kinda silly that something so fictional could matter to me so much. Truth be told, a part of me is a teensy bit embarrassed. But mostly, I don’t care.

Because I am a fangirl. And I am a phenomenally passionate one.

And that’s not a bad thing. Provided you don’t go too overboard (which I often do, but we’re not talking about that today), that’s what the stories are there for.

But what if I could be that obsessed about Jesus? What if I took apart every little word of His Word, what if I read all the commentaries, and I watched all the (good) sermons? What if I took copious notes on everything that confused me, and I researched each miniscule detail until I got it? What if I thought about Him and the aspects of who He is as much as I’ve thought about my favorite characters and aspects of who they are? What if I prayed and I listened and I sought Him in everything? What if I meditated constantly on His word and just let Him become a part of me the way these fandoms are a part of me?

Well, then my life would really start to shine for him, wouldn’t it? Every opportunity that I had, I’d talk about Jesus, the same way that, every opportunity that I have, I fangirl about my favorite fandoms. I’d be bold, unashamed, and unafraid, living for Him with all that is me.

I would be a Christian. And I would be a phenomenally passionate one.

Now to be clear, I’m not talking about being totally annoying and obnoxious and “DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING WHEN YOU DIE????” all up in everybody’s faces. What I'm talking about is letting Jesus grow in me first, then looking for opportunities and taking every one that presents itself to brag about Jesus through my love and my actions. When they ask me why I am the way I am, well, then I’ll use words.

Like I said earlier, I’m not trying to preach with this post, and I’m not trying to pretend like I have all the answers or like I’m anywhere close to having this down. For instance, in real life, I am super shy around people I don’t know. I am a phenomenally awkward human being, and I feel it every second that I’m out and about surrounded by strangers. It scares me, and it makes me crawl under this little shell of “Don’t come near me, don’t look at me, ABSOLUTELY NO EYE CONTACT,” whenever a stranger is within twenty feet.

Believe it or not, it is really hard to show God’s love when you’re hiding from everybody behind your cart of books.

But if I let Jesus truly become a part of me, His perfect love running through me, then He would cast out my fear. I’m not saying my social anxiety would just up and disappear, but my love for Him and His through me could be so strong, that I wouldn’t care what other people thought, and I would just live my life showing Him in everything. When the right time came, I could open up conversations about Him, the same way I’ve bonded with random strangers over Doctor Who, the Avengers movies, or Rick Riordan’s books.

I guess what I’m trying to say is when I’m a fangirl, I’m not ashamed: I’m flail-y, loud, obsessed, and passionate. And Jesus and His Kingdom? Kinda greater than any character or fandom I’ve ever seen.

So why can’t I be the same about Him?

I truly believe that if I was—if we all were—then we could make Jesus go viral. I mean, people say that a bunch of crazy teenage girls made Twilight a thing, and a bunch of obsessed tweens made One Direction famous. People say that a bunch of women made Fifty Shades the blockbuster it is today, and let’s face it, football’s only a thing because guys really like watching people hit each other. When people band together, they are powerful. We can be powerful.

So what if we got this obsessed with Jesus? What if we got crazy about Him the way we are about our fandoms or our music or our stories or our sports or whatever else we think about all the time and tell all of our friends about? What if we talked about it that much, shared it that much, wore Him on our sleeves that much? What if we banded together over the most meaningful cause in all the universe, couldn’t we make the true meaning of Christianity explode all over the world?

I honestly believe that if Jesus became our obsession, our passion, then people would start to see Him as He really is, and the truth of His love, not the hypocrisy everyone thinks Christianity is, would go viral.

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Well, there’s my random thoughts for the week! What do you think? Have a verse to share? Thought to add? I’d love to see you in the comments. :)

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