Often, when we think of receiving a “call to missions,” or receiving a call from God to any particular career, relationship, or city, we expect also to be filled with passion. Ten years ago, it was all about feeling the “call” through requisite post-retreat “spiritual highs.” But after running hard in the race to pursue God’s purposes both at school and in the workplace, I arrived at the notion that there is passion, and then there is obedience. If passion is getting up in the morning, obedience is making it to the end of the day. Passion feels like a wish, a burning desire that gives you energy and makes you eager to get moving. Obedience feels like running a marathon, uphill through mud and sleet…without shoes. That may sound awful, but truth be told, after six years in Boston, I was more wearied by the East Coast ambition, which, though passionate, was tiresome to maintain. So while I held tightly to the purposeful outlook I had developed in college, I frowned on the kind of passionate ambition that tries to change the world. Instead, I chose obedience.

Quiet obedience, I thought, was a more realistic and sustainable, maybe even more honest way to live faithfully as a Christian. And then came Urbana 2006. For me, going to Urbana was less a search for passion and more a demonstration of quiet obedience—of my commitment to engage in global issues of suffering that break God’s heart. But Urbana was anything but quiet, and our God is anything but quiet about His call to us. Just as I learned in college that passion yields obedience, I realized at Urbana that the fruit of obedience is in turn passion for the Gospel, for God’s people, for His kingdom to come on earth—in short, it is a passionate ambition that tries to change the world. God’s mandate to Abram in Genesis indicates how He wants to bless the nations of the world through us as well. Our God of missions has a mandate for us, and as Christians, we are called to this passionate ambition for the Kingdom. As passion without obedience is like faith without works, obedience without passion bears no harvest.

But then I wondered, what exactly does this passionate ambition look like? It looks like courage—courage to be mobilized by God’s call. Despite our fears and weaknesses, being ambitious for the Kingdom means being instruments of Christ, demonstrating His love to the world with what He has given us. For Sharon Cohn (Lawyer, International Justice Mission), that instrument is the pursuit of justice. In her testimony during an evening plenary session, Ms. Cohn spoke of God’s relentless concern for the poor, the least, those the world has forgotten, for girls sold into sexual slavery who think God does not hear their cries. But He does hear, and He responds by mobilizing His people to action, equipped with both passion and obedience. For God’s mandate states that we are Christ’s ambassadors to the world, sent to be the instruments of His grace, to demonstrate His love through our pursuit of justice.

Reflecting on the ways God met me at Urbana 2006, listening to various speakers, talking with missionaries, and reminiscing with old friends from college, I came to embrace the importance of passion. More importantly, I realized that there is no real dichotomy between passion and obedience—they are inextricably linked and together they give us the courage and will to respond to God’s call. Isaiah 1:17 is a directive: “Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” Similarly, Proverbs 31:8-9 says, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” These may seem like tall orders, especially in the face of so much suffering in such a big world. But we are called to a greater courage and to the pursuit of God’s heart and plans. Studying medicine now, I am often discouraged by the ongoing battle against disease. Even with all the advances of modern science, people still suffer; even with all the creature comforts of our Western world, people still starve; even with God’s promise that He is at work, we still worry. Our concerns, our confidence, and our expectations may be stifled by the enormity of suffering in this world, but our God is not. We can’t all change the world, and we certainly can’t change it immediately, but we can be ambitious for the Kingdom, and it can start now, right where we are. Paraphrasing part of Dr. Ray Bakke’s prayer—to God be the glory, to the earth let there be peace, to Christians be courage, and to the world, hope.

—Kristin Hung is in her first year at the U of M Medical School.