Press Room

Word From Base Camp: Passion

12.07.2009
By Scott McNaughton

PASSION: The majestic bugle of an elk in late September or the energetic rise of a rainbow trout to a dry fly—these are my passions. They are what I look forward to all year. They are what make me get up at 3:30 in the morning and do a workout unrivaled by any gym routine. These passions cause me to endure hardships like being cold, wet and hungry. Yet, they bring such delight and peace to my heart and soul.

So what is passion exactly? Is it a good or bad thing? Passion is the emotional fuel that drives a person, enriching his life, or destroying it. Passion refers to the strong emotions that govern a person’s life—his intense likes or dislikes. It describes the driving motivation for his actions or his overruling feeling or deep conviction. Passion often comes through painful experiences and the drama of life. In fact, the Latin root word for passion is passio, which means suffering. This is best illustrated by the most famous Passion of all—the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and His horrendous death on the cross.

Where do our passions come from and why might my passions be different from yours? First and foremost, our passions come directly from our Creator/Designer. Our Heavenly Father is certainly a passionate God, perfect in his display of emotion and passion. In His passion for beauty and design, God has created us in His image. Part of what that means is that we are passionate creatures—filled with emotions and desires, expressed so powerfully in our relationships with others. To a large extent, it is our passions that define us, making us unique individuals, created by God for a unique purpose.

So then, what is God’s purpose for passion? Certainly, He did not intend for us to hoard our passion for self-glorifying purposes, or worse yet, for the destruction of ourselves and others. The selfish, self-centered fruit of our passions is not His doing but our own. Rather, God intended for us to use our divinely-given passion to serve Him. That is the heartbeat of Fathers in the Field. We are men who are passionate about Christ and the Great Outdoors and seek to blend those passions for God’s glory.

If you are reading this, then chances are you have your own outdoor passion. Isn’t it fantastic to know that you can take that desire God has given you to enjoy His Great Outdoors and bring glory to the Heavenly Father by sharing this passion with a fatherless boy? Being a mentor father with Fathers in the Field permits you to do what you love doing, while serving God at the same time. What could be more perfect than that? You have the passion, the gear, the knowledge; now you have the privilege of introducing a fatherless boy to the Heavenly Father who will never abandon him. And at the same time, you are passing on to him your contagious passion for God’s Great Outdoors.

If you have already answered this call, thank you. You can be confident that coming alongside your Field Buddy and introducing him to his Heavenly Father through the Great Outdoors will have a HUGE impact on his life. Don’t take my word for it. Read a first-hand account in this issue’s Healing Journey of how God can use a man’s passion to bring peace to the heart of a hurting boy. If you haven’t yet joined the Fathers in the Field effort, we encourage you to prayerfully consider transforming your outdoor passion into a kingdom pursuit—that of rescuing an abandoned boy for the sake of Jesus Christ.