Michael Perry

I’ve realized over the last few years that I’m not a good spectator. As a matter of fact I’m a pretty poor one.

It’s not that I yell obscenities at the referees, second guess the coaches or have unrealistic expectations for the players.

No, it’s simply that I find it hard to just sit and watch a game. Even the “biggest game of the year” – the Super Bowl, a game I was looking forward to seeing, was hard for me to just sit and watch. I ended up sending text messages throughout the game to my friend and great Packer fan Jack McQueeney just to keep me interested.

And it doesn’t matter if it’s my favorite team or my kid’s team playing I just can’t sit and watch.

Now this poor spectatorship is acceptable in most cases except when it comes to watching my own kids play. So a number of years ago I committed to no longer being just a spectator of my kid’s sports but instead being a participant in some form or fashion.

So I help coach my kids every chance I get. I’ve coached middle school, JV and varsity basketball, varsity baseball and scores of recreational teams. Coaching keeps me in the game.

I’ve also kept “the book” or stats for teams I’m not involved with as a coach. This winter our son Mitch is playing on our school’s JV basketball team. So I’ve become one of the statisticians for both our JV and varsity teams. It gives me involvement during the games by doing something beneficial for the team and the coaches.

For sure I’m motivated to be involved by my love for kids, especially my own. But I’m also involved because I want (and need?) to belong to a team more than I need the association that comes from just being a fan.

But there is another factor that drives me to being more than just a spectator. It’s simply that I want to make the biggest difference I can, not just in my kid’s sports, but in every aspect of my life.

So no matter where God has placed me being a spectator just doesn’t cut it. I’ve been blessed with so much and so am accountable to do more than just sit in the stands and be a spectator.

“Passion” is one of the words of the moment.

We cheer athletes for having it and criticized them for not. We expect politicians, artists and business people to have it. It has become the one necessary qualification for success. If you have passion it covers all sins. And if you don’t, it doesn’t matter how effective you are, you’ve fallen short.

Two friends of mine, April Gann and Carly Jones, have recently written about a Jim Collins’ video that applies his Hedgehog concept and its three circles to individuals as he did for organizations in his book Good to Great. And, as you might remember, one of his three circles is “what you are deeply passionate about” which he now applies to his individual version of the Hedgehog concept.

I love Jim Collins stuff and I particularly like the idea of the Hedgehog concept being used by individuals.

The question I have is does Collins and all the rest of us really understand the true meaning of passion?

This is an important question. Because if it’s what’s expected of us, what we expect of others and it’s now a requirement for success then we’d better know what we are signing up for.

When we think of passion what do we think of? Often it’s used in place of the word “enthusiasm” and means having a high level of emotion for something. This is why we want it for ourselves and expect it from others.

But here’s the kicker. As important as enthusiasm is it’s not passion. Not even close.

The word “passion” as it’s come down to us from the Greek and Latin means something totally different.

It means “to suffer.”

That’s why we speak of the “passion of Christ” not the “enthusiasm of Christ.” They are two radically different things.

Seeing passion in its correct light raises two questions we all have to ask.

First, should it ever be our place to expect someone else to suffer for something? Its one thing to expect enthusiasm but it’s another to ask someone to suffer.

Secondly, when we ask ourselves the question ‘what are we passionate about?” we should rephrase it to “what am I willing to suffer for?” This is the better question and requires prayer and reflection before we answer it.

So I’ve concluded for my life that I will be enthusiastic about a lot of things but only choose to be passionate about a few. Those few things center on people and Christ and His Kingdom. We are not called to be passionate about anything else.

I’m in the eye of what’s being called potentially the severest winter storm in memory. I’m in Indianapolis which is all shut down and looks like it will be for the next few days.

When I’m traveling storms, like any obstacle, create a pile of decisions.

“Do I continue with my plans or postpone?”

“What if it’s not as bad as they say?”

“What if it is?”

“What’s best for the other people involved in the plans?”

“If I postpone when will I have another opportunity to do what I planned on doing in this trip?”

The challenge is there are no right answers to these questions. There is no verse in Scripture, no management book that specifically addresses these situations. I can’t Google it for an answer.

I have to use my best judgment, as well as the judgment of others involved with the plans to make the best decision. And I pray for wisdom, for God’s Spirit to direct my decisions.

The key is, as with this trip, is to make a decision and then commit to its success. To make a half-hearted decision is more often than not the worse option. Once I committed to coming down to Indy I did what I needed to do to assure the trip’s success.

This is where the risk is and why it’s easy to be half-hearted in a decision, because we are afraid of failure. Yet the chance of failure increases without a full commitment to the decision.

So even though I’m in a hotel wondering if I will make it home to see my son Mitch’s basketball game tonight I also know that I’ve done what I could to make this trip successful.

And the good news is my meeting is still on so the purpose of the trip appears to be within reach.

I’m now home as I finish this post. Our meeting this morning was fantastic and exceeded my expectations. And I was able to get home just before phase two of the storm and catch Mitch’s game.

Making a decision and committing to its success made the difference.