We’re all about mission statements today. Churches and businesses spend time “crafting” mission statements. We print them on banners, we put them on letterhead and we pledge to repeat them over and over again so that people buy-in to them.

But I’ve been wondering what my passion statement is. You’re passion is what drives you. It’s what you think about and where you spend your money. Your passion is what you pray about. It defines you.

Planet Fitness has been running a commercial of a lunkhead and his passion:

It cracks me up. I’ve seen some of these guys in a gym or two. They jerk things, grunt loudly and slurp some yellow gunk out of a gallon jugs. They’ve got muscles on their muscles. They live in the gym wearing tight shirts and shorts and show off their muscles to everyone. Man, what passion! On some level, I have to admire them.

Back to my point … what is your passion? Those of us who are Christians can figure it out pretty easily. Our passion is what we pray about. This morning, as I listened to Andy Stanley I realized that I don’t pray many big prayers. Few of us do. We all pray for ourselves, our family and two or three sick people. We’re at the center of our prayers. “If God had answered most of your prayers last year, the only person better off would be you,” Stanley said. Self-centered prayers become self-centered Christians. (1/16/11 Podcast )

I want my passion to be the same as Jesus’ passion was. His passion wasn’t about property or possessions.  His passion was not to boost church attendance. He didn’t talk about buildings and new programs. His passion was never to huddle all the believers together safe, comfortable and secure in a place they could call “my church.”

The church of Jesus is not a place. It’s a movement. When we Christians stop moving in the passion of Jesus, we stop being the church He intended. We become ingrown lunkheads attending class after class with our passion being, “I come to church and leave it here.”

My passion statement needs some adjustments. Does yours?

Lord, give me your heart for reaching people with the gospel.