Willmore challenges Southeastern students to keep ‘the passion’

Passion in the life of a minister can only come from God and a passion for God must permeate one’s ministry, said Alabama Baptist Pastor Roger Willmore.

Preaching at South­eastern Baptist Theo­logical Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., Oct. 21, Willmore, pastor of First Baptist Church, Boaz, preached from 2 Timothy 1:6.

“Our cutting edge is not something that emerges from within through some innate ability,” said Willmore, who serves as second vice president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention. “It comes from an awareness that we are totally inadequate and totally in need of Him.”

He went on to caution students that passion can be lost, leaving a pastor to serve the Lord out of a sense of joyless duty.

At that point, Willmore said, “You know the right things to do, and you know the right things to say. You have learned how to ‘do church’ without that being motivated by a love for Jesus Christ and a passion to serve Him.”

He added that a lack of passion for God will cause the minister to depend on the wrong things for success and effectiveness in ministry, things that serve as inadequate substitutes for the genuine work of God.

“A passion-driven ministry always looks to God; a  passionless ministry will  look to other men, organizations and programs,” he said.

Willmore went on to list 10 “passion-killers” that can cause a minister to lose his zeal and sense of wonder before the Lord. One of these is a familiarity with the things of God  that gives rise to a casual and irreverent approach to Him.

“We forget who He is, and we forget who we are,” Willmore said, referring to the loss a believer can have when he fails to keep in mind his sinful depravity before a holy God.

He also encouraged students to maintan healthy relationships with their families.

“It is next to impossible to be passionate about God when there is conflict in the home,” he said.

Willmore concluded with a word of hope for those who feel a sense of “burnout” in their ministry, answering the question, “If passion is lost, can it be recovered?

“Ask God to restore it and He will,” Willmore said, cautioning students that in order to have passion restored, they must come to God on His terms and not their own.