Comments on: Romanticism and Manufactured Zeal http://mattwiebe.com/2007/07/romanticism-and-manufactured-zeal/ Matt Wiebe's blog about faith and life. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:10:54 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Matt http://mattwiebe.com/2007/07/romanticism-and-manufactured-zeal/#comment-3974 Matt Sun, 29 Jul 2007 14:17:52 +0000 http://mattwiebe.com/2007/07/romanticism-and-manufactured-zeal/#comment-3974 <strong>Peter:</strong> Thanks for the comment, and a picture of your journey in this. You're absolutely right that questing for passion too often leads to idolatry. I know that it did in my case. <strong>Tony:</strong> Yeah, this totally jumps off of our chat on the way home from the pub. Cheers for the quote, it's excellent. Peter: Thanks for the comment, and a picture of your journey in this. You’re absolutely right that questing for passion too often leads to idolatry. I know that it did in my case.

Tony: Yeah, this totally jumps off of our chat on the way home from the pub. Cheers for the quote, it’s excellent.

]]> By: Anthony Wiebe http://mattwiebe.com/2007/07/romanticism-and-manufactured-zeal/#comment-3970 Anthony Wiebe Sat, 28 Jul 2007 23:24:40 +0000 http://mattwiebe.com/2007/07/romanticism-and-manufactured-zeal/#comment-3970 Man, that feels just like a continuation of the chat we had walking back to your place from the pub. Needless to say, that mirrors my journey, where the initially sincere passion lost its substance and became ignorant zeal. I pray the same for you and for me (and all others fighting indifference, apathy, even apostasy). I'm reminded of an excerpt I read in the Kathleen Norris book I was telling you about. She quotes an excerpt from Karl Rahner's "Prayers for Meditation": "If I make this avowal of faith, it must pierce the depths of my heart like a sword, I must bend my knee before you, saying, I must alter my life...I have still to become a Christian". Man, that feels just like a continuation of the chat we had walking back to your place from the pub. Needless to say, that mirrors my journey, where the initially sincere passion lost its substance and became ignorant zeal.

I pray the same for you and for me (and all others fighting indifference, apathy, even apostasy).

I’m reminded of an excerpt I read in the Kathleen Norris book I was telling you about. She quotes an excerpt from Karl Rahner’s “Prayers for Meditation”:

“If I make this avowal of faith, it must pierce the depths of my heart like a sword, I must bend my knee before you, saying, I must alter my life…I have still to become a Christian”.

]]> By: Peter Thurley http://mattwiebe.com/2007/07/romanticism-and-manufactured-zeal/#comment-3961 Peter Thurley Sat, 28 Jul 2007 04:38:01 +0000 http://mattwiebe.com/2007/07/romanticism-and-manufactured-zeal/#comment-3961 "I don’t know when manufactured zeal replaced the real thing, but it happened." For me, the manufactured zeal was replaced by the real thing when I found out for myself that I really couldn't make the Christian life by myself, by following rules laid out for me by culture, whether Christian or secular. When I did everything I was told, when I had passion for everything I was told to have passion for, and still failed, that's when I realized that true zeal is not found in what you do but rather in what God does through you, something that happens only with a humble heart and a heart that accepts his grace. The only passion worth having is a passion for God. Any passion of any other kind is idolatry, even when that passion is for something that God has declared to be good. “I don’t know when manufactured zeal replaced the real thing, but it happened.”

For me, the manufactured zeal was replaced by the real thing when I found out for myself that I really couldn’t make the Christian life by myself, by following rules laid out for me by culture, whether Christian or secular. When I did everything I was told, when I had passion for everything I was told to have passion for, and still failed, that’s when I realized that true zeal is not found in what you do but rather in what God does through you, something that happens only with a humble heart and a heart that accepts his grace.

The only passion worth having is a passion for God. Any passion of any other kind is idolatry, even when that passion is for something that God has declared to be good.

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