Qin'ah

Jesus clears out the money changers and the reaction of the disciples is to recall Psalm 69:9 “…zeal for your house consumes me…”

The Hebrew word for zeal is קִנְאַת (qin’ah) pronounced kin-aw’. It’s defined as:

Ardor, zeal, jealousy
1. ardor, jealousy, jealous disposition (of husband)
~ a. sexual passion
2. ardor of zeal (of religious zeal)
~ a. of men for God
~ b. of men for the house of God
~ c. of God for his people
3. ardor of anger
~ a. of men against adversaries
~ b. of God against men
4. envy (of man)
5. jealousy (resulting in the wrath of God)

Anyway you interpret it קִנְאַת is a powerful word. It expresses extreme emotion. It communicates intensity. It accurately describes the burning desire of my heart. It’s exactly what I’m looking for, passion.

I am a passionate man. I want to live a passionate life. I want to live what I am.

Is the American church ready for truly passionate pastors? Is it ready for a pastor who behaves like Jesus? I wonder. The part of my job that I hate, I just despise, is the expectation that I be nice. No matter what happens, no matter what is said to me, not matter what anyone else does, the eternal expectation is that the pastor is suppose to be nice. What a load of crap.

Is it possible to be passionate and nice at the same time? Not always. I grieve the fact that nice has become my default position. What would happen if passion became my default position? I might have to choose a new profession.

Jesus you were a passionate man, put in me the same passion that was in you and the courage to live it, amen.

© Tom Zawacki 2006

“You taught me to be nice, so nice that now I am so full of niceness, I have no sense of right and wrong, no outrage, no passion.” Garrison Keillor