Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm is the missing ingredient in many churches and youth groups. I want to stir you up to a dangerous and contagious level of enthusiasm that will definitely be caught by all who surround you.

Read: Acts 3: 8-10, Acts 4: 3, Acts 3:10-11, Acts 17: 6

In Acts 3 verse 8 we read how a man responds to God as a result of receiving his healing:

'He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them to the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.'

1. Enthusiasm Is For Church On Sunday

The first thing he does in his enthusiasm is take it into church. Notice that, 'he went with them into the temple courts.'

One of the greatest hypocrisies within Christianity today has to be the Christian who jumps around like crazy at a football game or in response to some good news at work, but sits sullenly in church on a Sunday, and rarely breaks into smile. Somehow, the church has become the holding station for 'all things dull and horrible.' Many people in society choose not to go to church on Sunday because the very mention of the word 'CHURCH' is enough to bring mind images of irrelevance, tedium and the smell of mothballs. But in this passage in Acts, enthusiasm went first into church.

Challenge: What do you think you could do to bring more enthusiasm into the life of your church and youth group?

2. Enthusiasm Catches Up With Your Face & The Body

Verse 8 says that he went to church "walking and jumping"

There are many Christians who don't show much "enthusiasm" in their worship or even in their Christian lifestyle. The comment may often be heard, "I am enthusiastic on the inside." If ever a lie was told, that is one! The reality about enthusiasm is that it catches up with your face and your body.

Picture school: you are in class, your teacher is the meanest in the whole school. You are not allowed to mess about in class because your teacher is liable to 'eat you' or some other ghastly thing. So what happens when your friend says something funny and you get the giggles? The more you try to suppress the laughter, the more it flows until you can't help but laugh out loud.

In Acts 3, the man is happy and enthusiastic on the inside and it shows on his face and in his movements. The point is simple: if you are happy on the inside, your face and body reflect it. Enthusiastic church worship is not displayed by solemn faces. There are times to be solemn, but there should always be times of overboard praise and worship.
(N.B. The dictionary defines enthusiasm, 'to rave to go into raptures and to go overboard')

Challenge: Try smiling today to show how great life is with God!

3. Enthusiasm Is The True Response Of A Worshipper

Verse 9 says "When all the people saw him walking and praising God."

His walking and jumping were evidence to all bystanders that he was praising God. There was something right and good about the man's response to what God had done. There was no debate from the religious onlookers who were questioning his right to dance. There was no deacon asking the "revolutionary" to be a little quieter. Not even the temple priest challenged the man or asked him to stand solemnly so he could give a "proper" response to God. His jumping and leaping and walking were fitting for the occasion. The man had just been healed from an inability to walk. Nothing was going to stop him from showing his praise to God with everything that was within him.

Challenge: Respond with Enthusiasm to whatever life throws at you this week.

4. Enthusiasm Is A Recipe For Trouble

One of the consequences of enthusiasm is that it has a habit of creating trouble.

In Acts 4:3, Peter and John are placed in jail as a result of a man's healing and his subsequent outburst of enthusiasm. Peter is compelled to preach about what happened to the man. If the man had said a quiet "Thank you" to Peter and John and walked off into the sunset, then Peter would never have been compelled to preach. And he would never have been placed in jail.

But then again, Revolutionaries don't mind causing trouble.it's what Revolutionaries do. (See Acts 17v6)

Challenge: Do something extra enthusiastic, even if everyone mocks you.

5. Enthusiasm Is Evangelism

In Acts 3:10-11 it says,

"They Recognised him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. While the beggar held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade."

The man's healing and enthusiastic response to God caused people to sit up and take notice. It made people ask different questions from the one's they had previously been asking about church.

When they see the enthusiasm of Revolutionaries, the questions asked about church and Christians change. Their questions progress into statements like, "I have to get some of that", "Can God do the same for me too?" and "If He can do it for you, He can do it for me", "I need to know your God".

Challenge: Next time something great happens to you make sure you shout about it and let everyone see how amazing God is.

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Audacious Revolutionaries by Glyn Barrett originally published by Cross Rhythms on 03/03/06. For more Life Files visit the Cross Rhythms website at www.crossrhythms.co.uk