Passion

Today I went to see the RIT orchestra play and enjoyed it quite a bit. If the chairs had been more comfortable for reclining I would have appreciated it but maybe it's better how it was.

Anyways so I was noticing a student playing second violin on the very end close to us. He and his dad were both in the group. It was cool to see how totally into his playing he was. Very dramatic and excited to a point that most people wouldn't see as socially impressive. The point of this isn't to make fun of him.

I was brought to thinking about how much I pay attention to my appearance and how people view me. But how appropriate is it to be so passionate about what we do that we don't heed social standards and pay no attention to what people think about us. We get so excited about our purpose (whether that be a short term or a long term purpose doesn't matter here) that we don't mind looking like a fool to other people for it.

Maybe it just depends a lot of what it is we're passionate about and what the goal of our life is. For our violin friend, I'm glad that he has found music to appreciate and really get into. If being a little awkward about it helps him enjoy it more then I suppose he should just weigh out the trade offs. Maybe he'll miss out on some friends. Maybe those aren't friends worth having though.

Now that that's thought through, it's relatively simple. What about being a Christian though? Aren't we supposed to be so in love with Christ that we'll do anything for him and we shouldn't let those around us influence the way we act? I might be misquoting but I think Paul talks about being a fool for Christ. What does that mean? I know there are plenty of people that totally live that out and praise God with no regard for the opinions of those around them. I believe that that's generally honest and not just a show. God will bless it but is that what God has for us? Aren't we also reaching out to those around us? Isn't our purpose here to share the gospel with the world. We want to see students and faculty transformed and campuses renewed. How are we supposed to do that if people just think we're weird, that we're fools, that we don't know anything? People don't listen to people they don't respect. Should we be striving to earn the respect of the world? but while living by a system totally contrary to what the world admires? How's that work? Are we supposed to find a balance somewhere? Where is it? How do we decide when we care to much about what people think? How do we realize when we're ignoring the people around us? Maybe it's impossible? Maybe that's why we need Christ to change hearts? I know it's not us that does the changing but God wants us to give our best... So does our best mean being a fool? or does it mean being able to be accepted, then to connect, and be there with people... are those two things contradictory? I guess I really don't know but I'd like to know. Is there a hard line somewhere? or is this all gray? I want to be full of excitement and passion for Christ and doing his will, I just don't know how to walk that out. I'm losing myself to rambling now but I think I've shown where my confusion lies and that's the point.

Should I be an awkward excited violinist for Christ? ...

...or smooth, but with Christ not being quite so obvious at first sight? Are those our only two options?