Enthusiasm and the Christian Walk

Mike Hosey, An Elder

If you are using a good, major, critical translation, you likely will not find the word “enthusiasm” as it is translated from its true Greek roots in your bibles, or in any of your major bible concordances.  But the concept captured by the word does exist in the bible.  The English word, enthusiasm, comes from the two Greek words, En and Theos. There are multiple ways to translate, En Theos.  But for the most part, it means to be either filled with God, or to be moved by God in some profound way.  Whenever you find the English word, Enthusiasm, in a modern translation, it is usually being used to translate another word such as zealousness or eagerness.  So enthusiasm is an eagerness or a zealousness that is motivated by God.  Notice that the source of the motivation is not the person, but rather God in the person. 

One place this concept is captured is in Paul’s prompt to the Roman Christians that they should keep their spiritual fervor up in service to the Lord (Romans 12:11).  Paul is telling them to keep God in their hearts as a motivator so that their enthusiasm, eagerness, fervor, zeal or passion will drive them to do things that are both inspiring and difficult (Romans 12:12-18).

You also see this enthusiasm in the life of David. Notice his enthusiasm in 1 Samuel 17:32-46.  In the very first verse of that passage, David implores King Saul that no one should lose heart (or enthusiasm) over the giant, Goliath.  David, an untrained youth, expressing a Godly enthusiasm for the reputation of God, and a belief that he will be protected volunteers to fight Goliath (1 Samuel 17:36-37). David then runs into battle and defeats the foe of God’s people, demonstrating both faith and enthusiasm.  God was in his heart and he proved victorious.

But notice which god motivates him during his greatest failure. In 2 Samuel 11:1-15 David is on his roof, but his army is at war.  Instead of fighting for God’s people in the armies of his nation, David is serving himself.  His enthusiasm is diverted from the service of God, to the beauty of Bathsheba.  When he serves the god of his own lusts, and impregnates his neighbor, his enthusiasm turns to killing Bathsheba’s husband in order to hide his own sin. 

The command that Paul gave to those Roman Christians (Romans 12:11) applies to us today.  If we want to have the kind of enthusiasm that we need to do those inspiring, wonderful, and difficult things then we will have to make God the source of our enthusiasm.  We can do this best by drawing near to God, and by stirring one another up toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:22-24).

Be a Truly Generous Person, and You Will Be a Truly Positive Person

Mike Hosey, An Elder

Generous people tend to be positive people. In fact, I can’t think of a single generous person in my circles who is also a negative person.  This seems to be true regardless of whatever their primary mode of generosity is.  Some people are generous with their time. They’re positive people. Some people are generous with their creativity.  They’re positive people.  Some people are generous with their money. They’re positive people.  But before you go protesting to me about my truth claim here, I will acknowledge that there must be people who are negative in their outlook and yet still engage in apparently generous behaviors. Perhaps. I just can’t think of any.

But the truth is that generous behavior is inherently positive behavior. Truly positive behaviors don’t come from negative mindsets, or negative spiritual states.

Consider how 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 tells us that God loves a cheerful giver. It doesn’t say that he loves a giver who begrudgingly yields his things of value.  This is because the person who gives grudgingly does so out of pressure, or duress, or guilt.  Think about how you would enjoy your spouse’s intimacy if it was given to you out of pressure, rather than out of a true desire for closeness. Or think about how enjoyable an event might be if your friend went with you to that event because someone shamed him or her into going.

Interestingly, I have found that some of the most positive people are those who have given their monies cheerfully.  These people are a triple portion of generosity.  The reason is that in most cases they have already given of their time to get the money they are giving away. They have also already given of their creativity or talents in order to receive the money they are giving away.  When they give of their money they are also giving time and talent they’ve already spent.  How can such a person be cheerful?  Believe it or not, the reason has more to do with faith than it does anything else. Faith is strongly linked to positive spiritual states and mindsets.  A person who believes that God is in control and that everything will turn out o.k. no matter how bad it looks at any given moment is going to be demonstrably more positive than the person who believes that everything is going to go to hell in a handbasket and that all is lost. People who are cheerful givers believe that they are stewards managing a master’s resources, and that God is their never ending supply who takes care of all their needs, and will replenish what has been given away. So if you want to stay positive, exercise your faith, decide in your heart what it is that God wants you to give, then give it, knowing through faith that he will do more than just take care of you (2 Corinthians 9:6-11).

The Importance of Giving and Receiving Encouragement

Mike Hosey, An Elder

Very often, negativity is bred from discouragement.  Discouragement is that state in which there has been a dispiritedness, or a loss of enthusiasm or confidence. Life is full of barriers, setbacks, storms, problems, mistakes, sins, failures, difficult people, crimes, pitfalls and other difficulties that make discouragement inevitable. If you have positive, desirable goals or expectations of any kind, you will be disappointed and subsequently discouraged at some point along your journey in this world. When you’ve had enough discouragement and disappointment, negativity will be knocking at your door.

When that happens, you don’t need to open the door.  Instead, you need a shot of the opposite of discouragement. You need encouragement. Encouragement is rooted in giving someone enthusiasm, confidence, or hope.  It is helping a person to move forward in the midst of, or in spite of, all of those barriers, pitfalls, and disappointments.  But there’s something even more important in these two words than concepts like enthusiasm or confidence.  Notice that the root of both terms is the word “courage.” When you are discouraged, your courage has been removed. When you are encouraged, your courage has been restored.  Courage is having strength in the face of pain, grief, difficulty or fear.  And this may be why the bible puts so much emphasis on encouragement.  One of those places of emphasis is Hebrews 3:13, where the bible tells us to exhort or encourage one another daily so that we are not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, and thus rendered ineffective in our Christian endurance. The command is that we should encourage one another.  Not that we are to simply receive encouragement from others, but that we are also to engage in the process of encouraging others. Doing this creates a double shot of the encouragement medicine for God's people!  It’s obvious that receiving encouragement from others helps us to realize our potential for victory as we walk out our faith.  But encouraging others will have the same effect on our own lives.  When we take the time to intentionally see the Godly positives in another person’s life, and to point out those positives, it is very difficult for us to maintain a negative outlook in our own life. You cannot effectively maintain discouragement in your own mind while at the same time pointing out hopeful things for your brother or sister in Christ that will also be true for you.

So how do you encourage your brothers or sisters? You point out to them how God has used them and is using them. You remind them of their victories, and of God’s plan for their life. You intentionally look for the things in their life that are uplifting and tell them about it.  And finally, you do uplifting things for them. So be of good courage (Psalm 27:14 KJV) and don’t open the door to negativity. 

Staying Positive by Avoiding the Enemy of Goodness in your Life

Mike Hosey, An Elder

There is a very old saying that was popularized by the very famous 18th century philosopher, Voltaire, who was not a follower of Christ by any orthodox measure, and who frequently attacked the core doctrines of the church of his day. Although he did not pen the words, he did magnify their usage. In our day, the quote is rendered this way: “The good is the enemy of the great.” In today’s world many people take that quote to mean that because we settle for the good, we often miss the opportunities to become great. Perhaps there is truth in that. But the quote’s original construction has far more truth, and is far more tragically realized than the common understanding of its modern mutation. Its original construction was rendered by Voltaire this way: “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Shakespeare captured the idea in English fully, when in King Lear, he wrote, “striving to better, oft we mar what's well." There are far too many people, who stretching themselves and every resource they have, to achieve the better car, or the better woman, or the better man, or the better house, or the great life, lose the joys of the truly great blessings they already have. It is often through this lie that people, families, churches, communities, or nations are destroyed. Satan will use this lie mercilessly. When the Bible speaks of lust, it speaks of a strong desire or longing. Lust does not solely refer to a fleshly sexual appetite. It can refer to any evil desire or appetite that exceeds Godly purpose. Consider that the people who lust for blood, or money, are not actually sexually aroused by those things. To give into lust is to bring upon oneself situations in which staying positive becomes profoundly difficult (James 1:14-15). And this is precisely why Satan uses such a lie that draws upon your lust. He does not want you to have a positive mindset, and he intends to keep you ineffective for Christ. It is terribly difficult to be effective at anything when one is negative.

In order to stay positive, it is essential to realize Solomon’s truth in Ecclesiastes 6:9, where he tells us that what we see is far better than a wandering appetite. The truth is that your wandering fleshly appetite will never be sated. The devil knows this, and he counts on it. So be thankful, and like Paul, learn to be content (Philippians 4:11-13), and it will be much easier to stay positive, and thereby, stay effective as a follower of Christ.