6-52 Voices February 11, 2014
The C3 Leaders devotion is a peer-to-peer weekly reflection from business leaders related to their journey with Christ. Each weekly devotion will be written by a different author from among the C3 Leaders community, 52 unique authors to be exact.
As we go through this next year together, we pray that these words and reflections will encourage you in your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Dean Orrico is a business leader and C3 Leaders Forum Chair.
Richard Sherman made headlines erupting in a post-game interview, seconds after causing the interception that meant victory for the Seahawks in the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers. Though he eventually admitted regretting his comment about another player, he never apologized for the enthusiasm. The interviewer, Erin Andrews, was thankful for his honesty, stating simply, “It’s about the real emotion.” Quarterback Russell Wilson raved about his teammate: “I have tons of respect for him. He plays the game of football with tons of passion and tons of fire!”
Sherman later explained that, when on the field, he throws his entire self into the game — in fact, he says, one can’t be successful playing against the best athletes in the game without playing passionately.
Our Anglo-Saxon roots teach us passion is unruly, disquieting…we consider being “dispassionate” a virtue. And perhaps this point of view has most infected our religious lives. Somehow our models of Christian spirituality have become thoughtful, quiet, even somber figures gliding through sleepy villages gently but lovingly touching those around them. But consider: A teacher of the Jewish law asked Jesus which was the most important commandment. Of all the verses in the Old Testament Jesus could have quoted, He immediately responded “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength.”
And at the end of seven days of feasting, the gospels say Jesus stood up and “stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink!'” The Greek meaning of “cried out” is literally “shrieked like a raven.” Sounds more like Richard Sherman than St. Francis of Assisi!
Time to walk after God with the passion He’s looking for. Let’s not have said of us what was said of King Amaziah in the Old Testament: “He did what was right in the eyes of The Lord, but not with a whole heart.” Turn it loose! Scream your prayers in the car; lift your praises to Him from deep within; stand strong, dare to rant about His faithfulness and love. Dr. George W. Peters said, “God, the Church, and the world are looking for men with burning hearts…” Why not us?
Dean Orrico,
If you would like to contact Dean you can email him at: bevande.orrico@gmail.com