By Floyd McClung

To help remind myself of God’s love for those outside the covenant, and the church’s commission to reach those who do not know Christ, I read through the New Testament recently to get a fresh feel for his heart for the lost. I decided to do this because I have a tendency to get busy and burdened with the urgent demands of ministry and daily life, and loose sight of the “main thing” on God’s heart.

The Bible makes it clear that God is intensely desirous of a personal relationship with each man and woman on this planet. He yearns with profound longing to adopt every person as his son and daughter. When he created Adam and Eve in the garden, and walked in intimate fellowship with them, he made it clear that that was his intent for every generation from that time forward. He established covenant with the children of Israel to draw them into intimacy with himself and through them to draw all nations into a love relationship. He sent the prophets to warn his people to turn from their sins, so they would not be separated from him for eternity. Even his acts of judgement on the people of Israel were the disciplines of a loving father, jealousy yearning for his children to return to him. Every prophetic warning, every intervention in their lives, flowed out of this longing to redeem them.

When the children of Israel were dividing the land, and assigning different portions to different tribes, the Lord made it clear that his portion was his people: “…the Lord’s own portion was his people…” (Deut. 32:9 ). He made covenant with them that he might have a people for himself. This truth shows the longing in God’s heart for relationship, for intimacy with those he created.

It is easy to forget that at the center of all we do is a God who longs for relationship with us. In all of our busyness and work, it is easy to forget why we are doing what we are doing. It is almost effortless to lose sight of the goal – God himself. If we do not seek His glory with every fiber of our being, all of our service to God is cheapened and becomes incredibly superficial. Our service for God is about God – about him being glorified through the lives of redeemed people enjoying him, obeying him and living to spread his glory throughout the whole earth.

When the lost humbly acknowledge God as their creator and give him the honor he is due, He is glorified. That is all God asks of us: that we walk humbly before him in a relationship of mutual delight, and live for his glory. It is more an offer than a request. It is not complicated. We are to have no other Gods before us, and love him supremely, extravagantly and passionately. And the wonder of it all is that not only are we invited into his family to enjoy all the benefits and pleasures of fellowship with him, he also invites us to partner with him in spreading his kindness and mercy to others.

Why do we loose sight of this simple reality? Somehow we allow the process of serving others to take precedence over the object of our service. The activities that contribute to the enhancement of our relationship tend to become the goal rather than God himself. As the great Scottish revivalist, Duncan Campbell, used to say, “Time spent marching God’s army never makes up for time not spent in God’s presence.”
If inordinate, excessive zeal for God and his glory does not consume us, we are in desperate need of fresh revelation of who we are serving and why. We cannot commend to others what we do not cherish ourselves. And if we really believe that we are to be passionate about what he is passionate about, we can test our passions by how they line-up his passions.

Are we equally concerned for the lost, on our finite level? Jesus said, “…I have not come for the righteous, but the unrighteous…” Are we living for the unrighteous? Do we go out of our way to give away our lives to those who do not know Christ? When Jesus saw the lost-ness of Jerusalem, the Bible says, “…Jesus wept.” Do we also weep for those who do not know him, who do not recognize his loving initiatives to save them?

As you read the passages below, test your “passion level.” I encourage you to actually get on your knees and turn these scripture-portions into prayers of repentance and consecration. Cast off cynicism and unbelief. Ask God to remove consciousness of others and their reactions to you or other people as the dominant thing you are aware of. Instead, make your heart fresh with zeal and love for him the controlling focus of your life. Turn from self-consciousness to God-consciousness. Repent of anxiety over how you are loved or perceived or taken for granted, and become enthralled with the greatness and goodness and awesome majesty of our God.

Jealousy for truth about God leads to passion for God’s worship in the lives others. One without the other is impossible, they flow from each other, and both originate in God. When we as believers drift from a burning zeal to share God’s love with people, and delegate our commission to love the lost to others (“…it is not my calling…God has not made me that way…I am not cut out for the evangelism thing…it is not my personality…if God has called them he will draw them…I am just too busy with others things God has given me to do…” ), we lay down one of the great privileges of being a child of God. This dichotomy leads to separating oneself from the central passion of the heart of our father, his own glory, his own worship by every one we meet.

We are invited into relationship with God in order to glorify him by enjoying him. He invites us to burn with desire for the lost with his very own zeal for himself. John Piper said it this way: “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.” God not only wants us to be satisfied in him, he wants us to want others to be satisfied in him!

Longing for others to find their satisfaction in God is another way to express a “zeal for souls” or to “ a have a burden for the lost.” It is a proper way of expressing and focusing our love for the lost, because it points to the greatest and purest reason for people to be saved, that is what God gets from it, not what they get. It is about God receiving what he deserves.

There is no being in this universe more committed to the glory of God, than God himself. It cannot be any other way. God is righteous, and righteousness exalts truth. God’s passion for his glory to fill the earth is the reason God’s heart burns with passion for the lost. Evangelism is first of all about the worship of God, not the happiness of the unsaved or the fulfillment of believers.

The glory God seeks is the glory of his mercy. Romans 15:8-9 says, “For I tell you that Christ became a servant for the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy.”

There are two great interlocking truths in these verses:

1. Zeal for the glory of God is at the heart of a burden for lost to be saved and for the church to spread the gospel to the nations. Paul says that Jesus came “… that the nations might glorify God for his mercy…” Jesus was on a mission of mercy to glorify the father! He came first for God’s sake, not ours.

2. The mercy of God motivates love for the lost, both our neighbors and the unreached nations of the earth. The text says, “… that the nations might glorify God for his mercy…” Mercy is the apex of God’s glory, like a fountain that overflows into lower levels of the fountain below. He exalts himself to show mercy. Isaiah 30:18 says the same thing in a slightly different way: “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you; therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you…”

God does not need the church to work for him to receive glory, but rather he magnifies himself by working for the church! For those who wait for him, he will work for them. Isaiah 64:4 says, “From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides thee, who works for those who wait for him.” We don’t stir up a heart of compassion in order to do our duty, but because of his great delight in us. We don’t do it in order that he will love us or the lost more, but because he loves us more! It is not because God needs our love to be complete, but because he overflows with mercy. Acts 17:25 says the same thing in a slightly different way: “God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything…”

What is the point of saying this? The point is that God’s greatness and glory is revealed in the wonderful truth that his mercy is not tainted by any need within himself to be loved or accepted. He has no defencencies, needs or defects. He is complete in himself. God has not gone through a process of self-improvement. The glory of his mercy is all the more wonderful in that he does not need something from us to fulfill a need in himself. His love is not tainted by an unhealthy need to be loved. It is simply and purely the overflow of his goodness, eternally the same. Think about it: his love is the one pure, totally trustworthy love you will ever receive!

There are two great motivations in the heart of God that are one: his longing for his glory to fill the earth, and his mercy for the lost. They flow out of the one and same heart. How does this truth affect us? If our zeal for the greatness of his glory wanes, our longing for his mercy to be given to others will be lacking. If we seek to be compassionate, but our compassion for hurting people does not flow out of a revelation of his glory, it quickly turns into a maudlin, man-centered sort of sympathy. Or worse, we do it for what we get out of it. Further, if our zeal for the glory of God does not revel in his mercy, then we become selfish and self-righteous (cf. Matthew 9:13).

So our love for the lost must not turn into a recruitment project for God’s labor force. We must keep it pure by continually sanctifying it in the worship of the Lamb. When our compassion flows out of a revelation of the throne-room of God, it sets us free from the heavy yokes of other gods, that the one true God might be glorified and exalted and lifted high in our hearts!
Our longing to delight in his glory will lead to an equally intense longing to spread his glory among the nations. The great sin of the church is not that we have failed to work for God so as to increase his glory in the earth, but that we have failed to delight in his glory so as to overflow in mercy for the lost. It is a tragedy that we have separated the two, and called one of them missions!

There is no missions committee in heaven. God has not given away love for lost to a sub-committee of angels or mortal beings. His longing for his own glory to fill the earth overflows in a longing to save all those who will come to him.

Further, there is no separation in God’s heart between a love for truth and compassion for people. He does not have a divided heart. These two are one in God. And so they must be one in us.

God does everything he does for the glory of his mercy. Does this sound a bit strange to you? It is scriptural language! Let’s go back to Romans 15 and listen again to Paul: “…in order that the lost might glorify God for his mercy…” Paul discovered that there is a wonderful agreement between God’s greatness in himself, and his kindness to those who do not know him. God does his saving work “to the praise of his glory.” In Ephesians one, Paul reminds us that we are called to praise God for his grace. In both cases God gets the glory and we get the blessing!

Loving God passionately is the fuel and goal of loving the lost, because it is the fuel and goal that motivates God! Loving our neighbors and other non-Christian friends flows out of the delight God has in sharing who he is with us. His desire for the nations to praise him is what motivates him to be merciful, and his desire to be merciful is what motivates him to call for the worship of all peoples. For Paul, these two truths are one. They are summed up in Isaiah in Isaiah 30:18 when the prophet says that God “exalts himself to show mercy” and Romans 15:7-9.

The Psalmist David also understood this great truth as well:

√ Ps 97:1 “The Lord reigns; let the earth rejoice…”

√ Ps 67:3-4 “Let the peoples praise thee, O God…let the nations be glad and sing for joy…”

√ Ps 70:4 “Let those who seek thee rejoice …God is great.”

√ Ps 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord…”

√ Ps 16:11 “In your presence there is fullness of joy…”

May I urge you to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your heart to you if you have allowed the ‘stuff” of everyday life or ministry to choke out your passion for God’s mercy to be revealed to the lost? If working with fellow Christians has caused cynicism to infect your soul, I plead with you to ask God to purge it from you. Allow nothing or no one to keep you dear friend from pure, child-like passion for Jesus and his worship in the earth.

Now let’s look at a few scriptures from the gospels that remind us of the simple yet profound truth that God loves people intensely and with great longing. Please do not allow the simplicity of these individual passages to cause us to lose sight of the whole: God’s commitment to fill the earth with his glory – through you and me, the church, in all generations! Praise be to his name!

Matthew’s Gospel

• 4:17 – Jesus began his public ministry announcing the arrival of the Kingdom of God and calling people to repentance: “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand…”

• 4:19 – When Jesus called the disciples, he called them to a ministry of evangelism: “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”

• 4:23f – His public ministry was one of preaching the kingdom to people in need of a savior: “And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease…”

• 9:2 – Jesus came to forgive sinners: “When Jesus saw their faith he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.’”

• 9:12 – Jesus made it clear that his target audience on earth was not the righteous but sinners: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

• 28:19-20 – Jesus commissioned his disciples, both then and now, to make disciples of all nations, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…”

Mark’s Gospel

• 1:4 – The “forerunner” spirit of prophecy is one of preparing sinners for the gospel: “John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

• 1:14-15 – Jesus began his ministry with a message of repentance for the lost: “…Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel…’”

• 1:32 – Jesus reached out to the sick and demonized, “…they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons…”

• 1:38-39 – Jesus was deeply committed to reach lost people, and said that is why he came on the earth: “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came…”

• 2:13 Jesus preached and ministered in the open air and public places: “He went out again beside the sea; and all the crowd gathered about him…”

• 2:15-18 – Jesus attracted sinners and despised people: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

• 5:24-34 – Jesus was particularly responsive to the longing of those in need: “If I …touch even his garments, I shall be made well…who touched me? … the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace…’ ”

6:7 – Jesus sent out his disciples to cast out demons, preach repentance from sin, heal the sick and to live among the lost: “He called to him the twelve, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over unclean spirits…so they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.”

6:34 - He had compassion on the lost: “…he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them…because they were like sheep without a shepherd…”

7:24 – He went to regions beyond what he knew or was familiar with: “And from there he rose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon…”

10:13-31 – There was no one outside the scope of his love and concern, whether they were little children, or the very wealthy: “And they were bringing children to him…and a man ran up to him and asked him, ‘what must I do to be saved? … how hard it will be for those who have riches to be saved.’ ”

• 10:47–52 Jesus particularly responds to those who cry out for mercy. He is biased toward the poor and those who have had no chance to experience his love: “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me…And Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your faith has made you well.”

• 11:15-19 – Jesus is raising up a church for all peoples, tribes and nations, and will allow nothing to hinder that focus: “…he overturned the tables of the money-changers…and he taught, and said to them, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations?’ ”

• 12:31 – Jesus calls each of us to do as he has done, to bless and love our neighbors: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

• 13:10 – It has often been said that we are to reach Jerusalem first, but Jesus said we are to do otherwise: “And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.”

• 16:14-18 – Jesus encourages those who devote themselves to his glory filling the earth. He promises something special, an incentive to love. He says signs will be given, signs that reveal his glory in tangible, immediate ways. These signs are a foretaste of the greater glory still to come “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation…and these signs will accompany those who believe…”

Luke’s Gospel

One interesting aspect of Luke’s gospel is the attention the Gentile physician gives to those who were non-Jewish and outside God’s covenant with the children of Israel. Luke records contacts Jesus had with many people that are not mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament, a good portion of which were non-Jews. This demonstrates Jesus “prejudicial love” not for the Jews, but for the poor and unreached, whatever their race might be. The list is quite amazing:

√ a Galilean demoniac – 4:31

√ a woman with fever (Peter’s mother-in-law) – 4:38

√ people with infectious diseases – 5:12

√ those who were handicapped or who had deformities - 5:17 &6:6

√ a Roman centurion – 7:1

√ the widow of Nain – 7:11

√ an adulterous woman – 7:36

√ female disciples – 8:2

√ the woman with the issue of blood – 8:40

√ Jairus daughter – 8:49

√ a boy with an unclean spirit – 9:37

√ a demonized person who could not speak – 11:14

√ a man with dropsy - 14:2

√ the Samaritan leper – 17:11

√ snotty nosed children – 18:15 J

√ rich rulers – 18:18

√ a blind man – 18:35

Jesus also ministered to those who were wealthy, or held positions of power or who oppressed the poor. He included them in his compassion and outreach. Several in the list above fall into that category.

What is the point of this list? Luke wants us to know that Jesus was a man for all people. He did not come for one race, one gender, or one class of society. He was not afraid to be associated with outcasts, or people with infectious diseases, or infants and little children, or women. He was particularly concerned to show that those outside the covenant God made with the children of Israel were also being given a chance to receive the good.

Luke sees the whole of scripture having one main theme and one dominant message: God’s love for all peoples. Listen to the words of Jesus as recorded by Luke in chapter 24, verses 44-47:

“These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations…”

Luke demonstrates the universality of God’s love throughout his gospel. A few other examples:

• 2:29-32 – Luke reminds us that God’s salvation is for all peoples, a light and revelation to the gentiles. “…mine eyes have seen thy salvation which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the gentiles, and for thy glory to thy people Israel.”

• 4:18 - Jesus was anointed to preach to the poor and release captives from their bondage: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.”

• 9:26 – Luke confronts his readers with a stunning truth: “For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the son of man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the holy father…”

We are told to get over our embarrassment about telling people the good news, and if we don’t, we are in serious trouble!

• 10:36-37 – Ever wonder what your responsibility is to your neighbors? Listen to the words of Jesus as he summarizes the parable of the good Samaritan: “Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers? He said, ‘The one who showed mercy on him.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’ ”

• 13:34 - Jesus demonstrates the heart of compassion that is to motivate all ministry: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!”

• 14:15-24 – In the parable of the great banquet, Jesus makes it clear that he has no problem filling his “house” with the poor, the lame, the blind, and the homeless who dwell in the highways and byways. He wants to fill his house, the church, with those who will celebrate their good fortune to be invited to the celebration!

• 14:34 – 15:32 - Perhaps one of the greatest reminders recorded in the gospels of God’s love for the lost is a series of three parables, one about a lost sheep, another about a lost coin, and the third about a lost son. Jesus precedes these three parables by telling his listeners how useless we are as the people of God when we are no longer seeking those who are lost. Listen to the hard reality of Jesus words, and the insightful scenario that follows: “Salt is good; but if it has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dungheap; men throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The sentence following this stunning statement is most revealing: “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ ”

Exactly!

John’s Gospel

• 1:9-12 – Jesus is the light that enlightens every man. God leaves no single person in all creation without a witness of his love. There are only two simple conditions to receive his love: to believe and receive. “The true light that enlightens every man was coming into the world…to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become the children of God…”

• 1:29-34 – John’s witness to Jesus testifies to God’s love for the lost: “Behold, the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” His saving love is universal and for all mankind.

3:16-21 – God’s heart for the lost is made no more clear than in John 3:16, the most famous verse in the Bible. More important than being famous, this verse proclaims the universality of God’s love. No person is outside the saving love of God, John says, if only they believe in him. Belief, John says further, cannot be separated from a person’s love of the “light.” This is what makes belief possible, if men love the light and not the darkness:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life…and this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light…”

• 3:34-36 – John states a wonderful truth for those who are desperate for a new beginning in life: anyone who believes in the son has eternal life! It is given that quickly and freely. God longs for all men to receive life, and puts no condition on it except the very act of wanting it enough to receive it. “…the father loves the son and has given all things into his hand. He who believes in the son has eternal life; he who does not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of God rests upon him.”

• 4:1-42 – The story of Jesus going through Samaria, and his conversation with the woman at the well illustrates God’s father heart for people. This incident happens with a woman, a Samaritan woman, and in fact, a Samaritan woman with a bad reputation.

But Jesus did not care if his association with this woman would besmirch his reputation; he cared about her salvation. When his disciples caught up with him, they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. When they urged him to eat, he pointed out that he was more concerned with spiritual food that feeds the soul than he was the food that sustains the body.

At the end of the encounter with the Samaritan woman, John sums up the episode with this simple truth: “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

• 4:46-54 – John introduces a question in these verses that is still being debated with great ferocity today: is faith a requirement for signs and wonders to be done, or is it the result of signs and wonders? Both, says John, because there is something greater than faith, and that is love. In verse 48 Jesus says to a Galilean official: “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe,” but a few verses later we read, “The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live’ and he himself believed, and all his household.”

John implies that faith can both precede a miracle, and follow it. There is no law that says it must be one way or the other. Some are healed because of their faith, others in spite of it. The key truth here: God loves people. He heals because of compassion, not because the people being healed have discovered some hidden principle that moves him to do what they want. God breaks in to people’s lives, and when they respond to his love, they are romanced to faith. John brings out this simple truth again and again: God is love, and for those who believe and receive that love, a whole new dimension of life is opened up to them.

• 5:1-47. In chapter five, John contrasts the love of Jesus for people, to the love of the Pharisees for their own glory. He expounds a great truth, and that is the relationship of zealous love for people to the glory of God. In verses 6-8 John helps us look beyond the miracle of the healing of the lame man, to the motivation behind it. He says, “When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

Notice what is being said here. John says that Jesus, in spite of all that was going on around him, saw what was important, a man in need. This miracle happened at the time of the feast. Crowds were everywhere. The streets of the holy city were lined with milling people. It was a special time of religious celebration in the holy city of David. People were there from every town in Israel. Masses of people choked every lane and every market place. In the midst of this busyness and commotion, Jesus saw one man. He was drawn to a place where there was a “multitude of invalids…” He focused on one invalid among them, a man who could not help himself.

Jesus responded to the plight of this one man with great tenderness and mercy. He healed him, and in doing so, upset a whole bunch of religious bigots. It was the sabbath, and the fact that Jesus healed on the sabbath stirred the ire of the Jews. A conflict followed. John describes the conflict in verses 10 to 47, and then concludes his report of this fascinating encounter by making it clear that the conflict between Jesus and the Jews was about the glory of god, about men’s passions for their own glory, versus God’s passion for His glory.

In verse 39 and following we read these words,

“You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life…yet you refuse to come to me…I do not receive glory from men…how can you believe who receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?”

John understood that this conflict was about glory. Healing a helpless man on the sabbath brought two systems, two ways of thinking, into conflict. The Jews were more interested in the glory of religious knowledge and attainment than they were in loving people for the glory of God. In verse 41, Jesus says, “I do not receive glory from men.” Jesus is making it clear that the central issue has to do with who receives glory, and what the fruit of passion for God’s glory looks like.

Jesus tells the Jews that being religious keeps them from glorifying God and loving people. He tells them the love of God is not within them. In fact, he says that because they receive glory from one another in the name of serving God, they cannot truly love people.

Here is the bottom line: we have only a limited capacity for glory; it has to be used for something, and if we use it on ourselves, we will not be able to give it to God. We can either be passionate about what counts, His glory, or waste it on our own glory (in this case, they were giving themselves glory by studying the scriptures for the wrong reasons).

John’s point is this: true religion is manifest in love for lost and needy people. Those who long for God to be glorified are passionate for those who need him, who cannot help themselves. True worship touches the glory of God and flows out in acts of passionate caring for people in need. If we do not care passionately for people, it is not because we do not have the capacity to care, it is because we are caring for the wrong things. We are spending our capacity for giving glory on gods of our making, instead of the one true God.

When we are touched by the goodness of God, we are invited to pass on his goodness by seeing people in need and caring for them. Just as Jesus saw one man in need in the midst of religious fervor and devotion, and brought that man in contact with the mercy of God, we are to do the same. We are to break out of the busyness of religious experience and see and touch people in need, people who cannot get to the source of mercy without help from someone else. If we do not do this, we face the danger of turning the passion of religious experience inward on ourselves. And if we continue in that direction, we will end up giving and receiving glory from and to one another, instead of God.

Zeal for lost people comes from God. He is the source of love. Our devotion to God naturally flows out of us in love for others. We have all experienced that love. Yet it cannot be sustained without continuously giving it away. Passion for Jesus, if allowed to have its natural course will lead to compassion for people, especially those who cannot avail themselves of God’s healing mercy without someone helping them. If not, passion for Jesus will turn into worship of ourselves and our own knowledge and performance, just as it happened to the Jews in this chapter in John’s gospel.