Enthusiasm

One of our media team members lives in Argentina. During a recent team meeting, his attention was obviously elsewhere.  He was engaging in that very common practice of zooming out on Zoom.   At one point, the noise coming from his computer was so overwhelming that he profusely apologized and expressed genuine surprise that sound was still bleeding through the silenced speakers of his laptop.

I finally realized what was happening. On that particular day, Argentina was playing a game in the World Cup. Correction: Argentina was facing elimination from the competition.  They were playing against Egypt and were trailing. They were seeking to repeat as World Champions, but had been losing the entire game.  But then, they began to mount a comeback. The comeback was led by Lionel Messi, a key member of their team who is also considered one of the greatest soccer players in history. So at the precise time of our meeting, the best player on the home team of the native country of our team member was leading a comeback in one of the most important games in the biggest tournament of the biggest sport in the world. Hence, the noise. Ergo, his distraction.  It all made perfect sense. 

Soon, he erupted into a cheer.  I could see his computer shaking.  He told us that folks were literally dancing in the streets.  Argentina won.  I could see and feel the enthusiasm.  That moment was a reflection of the joy, the excitement, and the enthusiasm that is precipitated and generated when people are either involved in or are witnesses to an event or an activity that they value. Measured excitement is an oxymoron. Composed joy is a contradiction. Quiet enthusiasm is no enthusiasm at all.

The English word enthusiasm is derived from the greek word "ἐνθουσιασμός.” It means to be possessed by a god. It means that one’s interior and exterior being has been altered, resulting in a kind of frenzy. It means that a god has invaded and transformed one’s mind, will and emotions, resulting in observable effects. Enthusiasm is closely related to and is often used synonymously with the word inspire—which carries the same idea. To “inspire” means that a spirit has entered. When one has been inspired, one has been “in” spirited. Enthusiasm is of paramount importance. Ralph Waldo Emerson paid tribute to that importance when he observed that “nothing important has ever been accomplished without enthusiasm.”

I was reminded of this adage while reading the memoirs of one of my favorite preachers. Charles Haddon Spurgeon was remembering one of his critics, and he called him “an enthusiast against enthusiasm.” LOL. I thought it was a great phrase, and have decided to add it to my collection of choice clapbacks. So many people are enthusiasts against enthusiasm. They are always composed: calm, cool and collected. They are always even-keeled. Their feathers never seem to be ruffled. But I have noticed that they never do much of anything either. Possession of the promised land belongs to the passionate. The great difference between Socrates and Jesus is that Jesus wept. That is why while Socrates brilliantly analyzed the world, Jesus actually changed it.

God prefers and promotes the passionate. One of my favorite scenes in the scripture is narrated in 2 Samuel 6. The scene recounts the day that David brought the ark of the covenant (which represented the presence of God) into the city of Jerusalem. For David, that day was one of the best days of his life. Not only was the ark of the covenant back where it belonged, but David had finally arrived in the position that he belonged. After a long season of being mistreated, misunderstood, and maligned, things were finally in place. To commemorate the occasion, the sacred penman tells us in 2 Samuel 6:14 that 

David danced before the Lord with all his might…

What struck me was not simply what David did. It’s how he did it. To watch a man as powerful as David dance with all of his might must have been a singularly spectacular sight. You never forget people who do what they do with all their might. That, my friends, is enthusiasm.

I do not have a question for you today.  Instead, I offer a prayer:

May you do whatever you do with all your might. May your passion leave a dent in the universe and permanently alter someone’s life. May enthusiasm overshadow you.  May you catch on fire.

Because if you catch on fire, John Wesley said that people will come to watch you burn.