What Does “Passion” Really Mean?
Fruit or Vegetable? A Lighthearted Look at Desire
Years ago, I would often have late-afternoon meetings with my boss to close out the workday. Almost every time, at some point during our meeting, he would lean back in his chair, heave a deep sigh, and say, “Sparky, what’s it going to be tonight? Fruit or vegetable?”
The first time, of course, I had no idea what he was talking about, so I had to acknowledge that fact. He replied, “Sparky (yup, he loved calling me that), it’s pretty simple. Fruit means wine, and vegetable means bourbon (corn) or vodka (potatoes). What’s it going to be tonight?”
Thankfully, I never fell into that nightly habit, but it was amusing to guess what his leaning was each time he asked me that in subsequent meetings.
With that in mind, what comes to your mind when you hear the word “passion?”
- Fruit
- Vegetable 🙂
- Work
- Hobby
- Person
No wrong answers there, but today we’re here to talk about passion as it relates to work.
Passion and Work: Why It Matters for Cultural Fit
How Passion Impacts Your Career Alignment
YOUR passion, or lack thereof, as it pertains to work is a very important consideration as you think about where you might be the right cultural fit. If you have a passion for your work in some way, but the work you do doesn’t allow for or support your passion, you could be missing out on a significant attribute that God gave you.
Evaluating Passion as Part of Career Discernment
On 1/27/26, we outlined 17 topics for you to know about yourself (click here to read), so you can more effectively evaluate YOUR fit with an organization with whom you’re considering working. This week we’re diving deeper into another one of those 17 topics: passion. We’ve discussed what to look for on the organizational side in an earlier 8-part series (click here to read the first post in the series).
What Does “Passion” Really Mean?
Let’s begin with a definition for passion. Dictionary refers to it as:
– an intense desire or enthusiasm for something
– a strong and barely controllable emotion
Another definition someone shared was: “A strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire.”
I’ve met people who simply can not “not” do something. They have an innate drive that inspires them to pursue a particular activity or goal. I like the word “extravagant” in the definition…it’s a drive that to others may appear “over the top.”
What Does the Bible Say About Passion?
Righteous Zeal vs. Passions of the Flesh
As we like to do, before we get too far down the road, let’s take a look at Scripture to see what God has to say about our passion. I typed into AI, “What does the Bible have to say about passion?” Here’s the overview response:
“The Bible distinguishes between sinful, selfish desires (“passions of the flesh”) and righteous zeal for God, urging believers to surrender personal passions to follow Christ and serve Him wholeheartedly. It encourages intense, passionate commitment to godly purposes—such as love, righteousness, and service—while warning against making worldly desires idols.
Romans 12:11 tells us, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”
Matthew 22:37 states, “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
Colossians 3:5 contrasts these verses with, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust (passion in some translations), evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”
Bottom line, we are not to follow “our” passions (see definitions above), but follow Christ.
Following Christ, Not Just Following Your Passion
Ok, you might say, but what about the passion that you mentioned earlier that God has given to us?
Discerning Between Passions and Idols
To clarify, we need to listen to the passions God has gifted us with, but not let them control us to the point of giving over our allegiance and devotion to Jesus Christ. Once we have subjected ourselves to His Lordship in our lives, we can prayerfully ask Him for guidance on how to best channel the “extravagant fondness” or “intense desire” we might have for something into the vocation we feel called to pursue.
For example, you might have a passion for cars, golf, history, commerce, technology, teaching, or Legos. Whatever that passion is, is it subjected behind your passion for Christ? Or has it become an idol?
With that said, let’s go further to see how our healthy, subjected passions can show up in a vocation.
How God Uses Passion in Your Calling
Mark Batterson, pastor and author of the book, “Whisper,” encourages that, “Our hearts should break for the things that break the heart of God, but they should also skip a beat. Whether it’s the voice of sadness, anger, or gladness, don’t ignore those emotions. God is speaking to you through them.”
Using that baseline, in our “Hear God Calling You” workbook (link HERE), we designed a simple exercise to help people capture how God might be speaking to you through these emotional cues. We call it the “Mad/Glad/Sad” exercise. For each of the questions below, take a few minutes and write out your response.
- What makes you mad? What disturbs you?
- What makes you glad? What delights you?
- What makes you sad? What disappoints you?
What actions might you take based on what you discovered here? Those things that make you passionate inform to whom and where you might be called and are part of what makes you unique.
Should You Follow Your Passion?
Passion vs. Purpose: What Comes First?
You may have heard phrases like, “Pursue your passions,” “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life,” or “Follow your passion.” Those phrases might sound novel, romantic, or even inspirational. But it’s important your answers to them are positioned as we discussed.
In fact, Adam Grant, a popular author and professor, in his podcast interviewed Zarna Gary, a comedian. He asked her, “What’s the worst career advice you’ve ever gotten?” Zarna: “Follow your passion! (Instead) Do what the world needs.”
A couple comments on the podcast were insightful:
- “Purpose and passion need to come together”
- “You might need to set aside passion a bit to pursue purpose”
- “Passion is often the result of doing valuable work well, not the prerequisite”
Bottom line: God created us with passion. Some of those passions can be good, some can be bad. But even the good ones need to be subjected to His purpose and calling for our lives. Once we are clear in Who we’re following, we can prayerfully explore how our passions can advance His Kingdom for His glory and other’s good!
Dave Sparkman currently serves as the volunteer Crossroads Career board chair and local ministry leader. He is also the founder and managing director of Spark Your Culture, a corporate culture consulting firm. Prior to that he worked at UnitedHealth Group, a Fortune #5 public company, serving in the role of Chief Culture Officer. His unemployment experience came from the implosion of Arthur Andersen, where he served as the West Region Managing Partner, People.
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Comments 1
I appreciate this topic of passion and purpose. I see passion as a strong emotional response thinking towards what we want to do for work. It can lift me up to make a decisions based more on feelings that can easily change in time. However, I can look toward purpose as more focused with intentionally seeking God’s calling for work and how we are created for His glory and be truly fulfilled in my work.