Danger! Unbridled Passion
2 Kings 9:16?10:32
Today, the word “passion” is most often used to refer to a strong emotional commitment. Young adults heading into the marketplace are told to find their passion and go after it 100 percent. Some even decide to retire early from successful careers to pursue what they call their “real passion.”
In these examples, being passionate is viewed as a good and desirable trait. Also, religious dedication and zeal are often considered to be positive. Christians should be passionate about loving and serving the Lord. However, we can point to examples in which religious adherents have acted passionately, but harmfully, toward themselves or against others. Today’s lesson gives us one example of Jehu’s error in zealously purging all things connected with Ahab’s reign in Israel.
Jehu traveled to Jezreel to confront King Joram and to avenge the evil actions committed by Joram’s mother Jezebel. This original mission had been given to Jehu by Elijah (1 Kings 9:16).
Whenever we believe that we sense a leading from God, we need to evaluate whether our passion is based upon our relationship with the Lord, His purposes for us, and upon His Word to us recorded in the Bible. We must ask ourselves this question: What is the basis of our passion? (2 Kings 9:16, 21b-22).
Jehu enlisted Jehonadab, son of Rechab, to travel with him to observe his zealous execution of the Lord’s judgment against Ahab’s dynasty. Jehonadab was likely a member of a family known for its adherence to religious principles in the Torah. He likely shared Jehu’s zeal for the Lord in rooting out all vestiges of Baal worship. Thus, Jehonadab became an accountability partner to Jehu. We can enlist others who have a reputation of spiritual faithfulness to evaluate our actions and help us stay true to the Lord’s ways. Faithful accountability partners help us remain faithful to God’s will. We must ask ourselves this question: How do we stay accountable? (2 Kings 10:15-17).
Pretending to be a convert to Baal worship, Jehu summoned all the religious officials of Baal for a sacrifice to their god. But Jehu’s real intent was to reveal and kill the officials who were serving Baal. The biblical text does not directly address the morality of Jehu’s deceptive tactics, so difficult questions are often raised with this passage. However, the Bible is clear that sinful actions that are contrary to God’s Word are always wrong. Confronting deeply rooted wrongdoing must be done using right means. As believers who are passionate about serving the Lord faithfully, we must guard against deciding that a God-honoring goal justifies our taking ungodly actions to achieve it. We must ask ourselves this question: Are we acting in error by using wrong means to reach right results? (2 Kings 10:18-19).
Jehu was guilty of selective passion. He opposed Ahab’s practice of injustice and Baal worship, but did not oppose the idol worship established by Jeroboam. While Jehu zealously carried out the Lord’s judgment against Ahab’s dynasty, he failed to follow God’s law wholeheartedly or to turn the people of Israel away from their idolatry. We must ask ourselves this question: When does our passion fall short? (2 Kings 10:30-32).
Spiritual passion is incomplete if it is unmatched by faithfulness to the Lord’s ways. Unbridled passion is dangerous! Christians need always to match their passion for the Lord with faithfulness to His ways.
Larry McDonald– Lessons by Larry McDonald, dean of North Greenville University’s Graduate School of Christian Ministry and professor of Christian spirituality. He holds a Ph.D. from Southeastern Seminary and a D.Min. from Reformed Theological Seminary.